A YOUNG student nurse who almost died from an infection and was left in multiple organ failure has had thousands of people offer help to find her a life-saving kidney.

Kristin Hamill from Greenock suddenly fell gravely ill with slurred speech, extreme abdominal pain and vomiting blood on the morning of June 28 last year.

She had to be rushed to A&E where she was taken straight to resuscitation.

The 25-year-old had suffered a major haemorrhage and was diagnosed with sepsis and pneumonia. Her family were told that she may not make it through the night.

Kristin, who now is in kidney and liver failure, spent almost five months in the high dependency renal unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

She still requires dialysis three times per week to keep her alive.

Kristin had been suffering pain for some time before she fell seriously unwell.

She told the Tele: “The pain had been going on for two months.

“Overnight I was lying on the bathroom floor going in and out of consciousness.

“The infection was so confusing I was not thinking straight.

“I phoned an ambulance at 7am and they said I was to wait and speak to my GP, so I had a house visit a few hours later and by that time I was vomiting blood, my lips were blue and I couldn’t stand up.

“By the time I got to A&E in Inverclyde Royal my blood pressure was in my boots.

“I was put in intensive care at Inverclyde before being transferred to the QEUH where I spent the next five months.”

Since entering multiple organ failure Kristin has struggled to eat solids after being tube fed for months whilst bedbound.

She is working to build her strength back up as she was unable to walk for the entire time whilst she was in hospital and this caused problems with her leg muscles.

The final year paediatric nurse - who was almost at the end of her studies when she took ill - is now in a race against time to find a kidney donor after medics told her there was no more that can be done to treat her.

Over 200 people have signed up to see if they would be a match to offer Kristin a kidney.

So many individuals have come forward that the transplant team have asked people to hold off for now whilst they work through to find a match.

Kristin, who has been supported by family and friends including mum Karen Rennie and partner Gary McKeown, said: “I go to dialysis in IRH on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for over four hours at a time.

“Getting a kidney is not a cure and I will be in and out of dialysis all of my life, but it would give me my life back.

“I have been overwhelmed with how many people have reached out, we’ve not stopped crying and it has made me realise how lucky I am to be here.

“People who are total strangers have even reached out as my story is close to home - some of them have family members who were on the waiting list.

“You just would never think total strangers would do something like that for you.”

Kristin could face up to a year of waiting to be matched with a donor and complete all the necessary steps for surgery.

She has encouraged others to come forward if they can help someone else too.

She told the Tele: “If you want to sign up to be an altruistic donor to help another stranger please contact your local transplant team.

“I’m beyond grateful for all the applicants but the transplant team have said that they have enough for me to go through just now.

“If you are interested and can help anyone else, you would be giving them back their life.”

Kristin’s plight has sparked a number of fundraisers launched by the community to help the renal unit at the Queen Elizabeth UH as well as the local dialysis unit.

Family friend Lynne Docherty is organising a ladies day whilst Hayley Weston is arranging a charity night in the Caledonian Bar in Port Glasgow. Kristin’s own efforts via a fundraising page have so far raised over £1,300 for the QEUH and IRH.

She added: “My family and I are eternally grateful to every staff member involved in my care during the most terrifying time of our lives.

“We are raising funds for the 4A renal unit, who saved my life multiple times, and the IRH dialysis unit who keep me alive on a daily basis.

“I’m alive today because of them and I would love to give back thanks and raise funds for both departments.” To donate to Kristin’s fundraiser, visit bit. ly/3JPI1bp