Tracey, 41, shares her shocking real life story;
A loud knock at the door woke me up with a start.
Confused, I leapt out of bed and ran to answer it.
“Can I help you?” I croaked to the unfamiliar man on the doorstep.
He began to respond, but I’d got such a rush of blood to the head from getting up so fast that my hearing was muffled and my vision was blurred.
I must have passed out.
The next thing I knew, I was lying on the carpet looking up at him.
“Are you alright, love?” he said, frowning.
As he helped me to my feet he told me his name was Simon and he’d knocked because he’d seen the ‘For Sale’ sign in the window of my car, which was parked outside.
We got chatting and there was a real spark between us.
Ours was a whirlwind romance – just three months later I was pregnant with our first child, Paige.
Shortly after she was born, we got engaged, and not long after that our son Kyle came along.
We had such a happy family life, but there was always a black cloud hanging over us.
Simon had only one kidney due to a condition called reflux nephropathy, which meant tubes to his bladder didn’t work properly, triggering renal failure.
“Ours was a whirlwind romance.”
His illness progressed over time and eventually his doctor told him that without dialysis, he wold die.
“I’m putting you on the transplant list for a new kidney,” he said.
Soon, Simon was so sick and weak that I had to give up my cleaning job to take care of him.
I was so terrified of losing the love of my life.
When Simon had been on the transplant list for four years, I decided to take action.
I went and had a blood test and found that I was a match.
“I’m going to give you my kidney,” I told him.
“I couldn’t possibly let you do that,” he replied.
But I was adamant.
“I’d do anything for you,” I vowed.
We scheduled the surgery. It was a huge risk.
There was a chance I could get blood clots, infections and even die.
But I loved Simon so much, I had to try to save him.
On the day of the op, we lay on beds next to each other.
“I love you,” I told him, before I was taken off to be given anaesthetic.
Three hours later, I came to and nurses told me the procedure had gone well.
Later, when Simon’s bed was wheeled in beside mine, I cried tears of happiness and relief.
I’d saved my husband’s life!
We decided to get married a year to the day after the transplant.
Vowing to love each other in sickness and in health felt particularly poignant.
“There was a chance I could get blood clots, infections and even die. But I loved Simon so much, I had to try to save him.”
Simon had been told it was likely his gruelling treatment would leave him infertile, but just seven months after our wedding, I fell pregnant again, and we had a baby boy, Mitchell.
But then, Simon began working lots of extra hours, including weekends.
I hardly ever saw him. It was strange.
He was the manager of a cleaning company and he’d never needed to work overtime before.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he promised as he left me home alone with the kids yet again.
But he didn’t.
Even when he was present, his head seemed somewhere else.
“Why won’t you put your mobile down?” I asked him.
Lately, he seemed glued to the thing.
“I’m answering work emails,” he said.
I just didn’t believe him. I have to get hold of that phone, I thought.
So, every time he left his mobile unattended, I’d seize my opportunity.
But I couldn’t figure out the pin code.
I refused to give up though.
Finally, a fortnight later, I got lucky with the numbers while Simon lay fast asleep.
I held my breath as I opened his inbox and began to read his text messages.
One, from Simon, read: Wish I was sleeping with you baby.
The reply, from a mystery woman, said: You’re so cute, you melt my icy heart.
“I couldn’t believe what I was reading.”
Then they were making plans to see each other on the weekend.
I felt like I was going to be sick.
Simon was a liar and he had played me for a fool.
After everything I’d given him, even my kidney, this was how he repaid me.
I was so angry that I packed my bags and left with the kids.
When Simon called, I refused to answer the phone.
Then he sent a message.
I can assure you nothing has gone on, it was just text banter, It read.
I began to shake with rage.
He’d been ‘working’ every weekend and coming home late and he expected me to believe it was text banter!
A week passed before I could bring myself to speak to him.
“I messed up,” he snivelled. “I’m just a man.”
It was pathetic. “It’s over,” I told him. “I can never forgive you – I saved your life!”
He didn’t seem to care.
To add insult to injury, he was living with a different woman within a fortnight of me leaving.
Simon and I are still married but I’d never take him back.
He betrayed me in the worst way possible. I gave him my kidney and he broke my heart.
There’s just no coming back from that.
The Take 5 team were SHOCKED when they received this story. You can hear what they have to say in this week’s Ripper Real Life Podcast!
Simon says:
“What happened is our business. I didn’t ask for that kidney at all. She’s obviously neglected to tell you that. She also walkd out on me over a stupid text message. If a woman loves you, she won’t walk out on her family, would she?”
