My ‘puffy hay fever face’ and bad hangovers turned out to be a killer disease – my mum had to give me a kidney

WHEN Ellen Swarbrick woke up with a swollen face in spring 2022 she put it down to hay fever.

Two years later she would find out it was one of the first signs of a killer disease – and she’d need her mum to save her life.

Ellen Swarbrick is raising awareness over chronic kidney disease after mistaking her symptoms for less serious conditions[/caption]

She put her “puffy” face down to hay fever[/caption]

When her ankles swelled up she assumed it was from sitting down in the heat all day[/caption]

Ellen, 28, moved to London in September 2023 to begin a solicitor training course and started taking up to two antihistamines a day to try to reduce her “puffy” face.

She also found herself struggling to get out of bed when her alarm went off, but thought she was just being “lazy” and that she was tired from her new job.

On a work trip in July 2024, Ellen noticed her ankles had swollen up, but assumed this was due to being sat down in the heat all day.

Looking back now, she also recalls experiencing terrible hangovers and having to use the bathroom more often – but didn’t realise her body was trying to tell her something.

When she came back to the office, she said she started experiencing flu-like symptoms and blurred vision.

When her symptoms didn’t improve, she called 111 and was sent to the eye department at St Thomas’ Hospital, London.

There, doctors found high blood pressure was the cause, and after a short hospital stay she was moved to the renal ward at Guy’s Hospital, London.

Following a biopsy, Ellen was diagnosed with stage four chronic kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease is a long-term condition where the kidneys don’t work as well as they should.

It can be caused by high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, kidney infections, kidney inflammation, kidney stones, and regular use of certain medicines, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

If you have the condition, even if it’s mild, you’re at an increased risk of developing other serious problems, such as cardiovascular disease – which is the main cause of death in people with chronic kidney disease.

Just after Christmas 2024, Ellen’s routine blood test showed the disease had unfortunately progressed to stage five and she was told she would need a transplant.

Luckily her mum Kathryn Patrick, 57, was an 80 per cent match and she was able to give her daughter a kidney in May 2025.

She admits her mum “completely changed her life” and gets emotional and cries every time she sees her.

Now Ellen is sharing her story to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of kidney disease.

Ellen, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, said: “I was working really hard, feeling more and more tired.

“The puffiness had continued and was probably getting a lot worse. Because it was summer at the time I thought it was hay fever.

“It used to go down by the evening, which made me feel like the antihistamines were working.

I would have really bad hangovers. It wouldn’t even be when I went out for a big night out

Ellen Swarbrick

“In reality it was just when I was sleeping flat the fluid retention would pile up in my face. Then when I stood up it would move down my body and spread out.

“I was working quite hard. I remember feeling like I was finding it a lot more difficult than everyone else and I didn’t really understand why.

“I was tired but because I’d started this new job I put it down to that when in reality this level of tiredness I was feeling was really not normal.

“I remember I would set my alarm before work to go to the gym and I would never be able to get up.

“I thought I was being lazy or something but it was that level of fatigue where I literally would not be able to get myself up before I needed to.

“I would have really bad hangovers. It wouldn’t even be when I went out for a big night out.

“I would literally go out for a couple of glasses of wine with a friend or my boyfriend and I would be throwing up the next day.”

‘Mum’s completely changed my life’

Ellen said doctors told her the cause of her kidney disease was an autoimmune condition called IgA nephropathy.

However, she says her mum was adamant that she would be a match and was determined to be the donor.

Ellen said: “It’s so emotional. Every time I see my mum or speak to her I just start crying.

“She’s completely changed my life. I just have a lot more hope for the future.

“I didn’t want to ask [people to donate] and I didn’t want anyone to feel pressured in any way.

“My mum was so determined. She knew it was going to be her.

“Before she even got the blood test she was telling the nurse on the phone, ‘it would be better to do me because I’m older so you don’t have to put any of the young ones through it.’

“The nurse was like, ‘well, you have to make sure you’re a match first.’ She was like, ‘I will be a match, I will be a match.’

“They rang my mum and my mum told me that she was an 80 per cent match which is incredible.”

You just don’t think anything like that would ever happen to you

Ellen Swarbrick

Ellen will need another kidney transplant during her lifetime but her most recent test results showed her kidney function was in the normal range again.

She said: “I think I was 27 when I was diagnosed and you just don’t think anything like that would ever happen to you.

“You’re just so oblivious to it. I didn’t consider that I might have anything like that.

“I think it hit me maybe a week later and then I felt like, ‘why me? This is so unfair. I’m living in London, I’ve started this new job that I really love.

“I was so confused how I could have this seriously life-threatening illness and not know about it.

“It was just bonkers to me and it took me ages to get my head around.

“As soon as I woke up from the transplant I felt different.

“I knew I was tired but I don’t think I realised the level of fatigue I had until I woke up from that transplant.

Ellen’s mum Kathryn was able to donate her a kidney[/caption]

She’s been told she’ll need another kidney transplant in her lifetime, but her kidney function is in the normal range again[/caption]

Ellen says her quality of life is now “immeasurably better”[/caption]

“My quality of life has improved so much. It’s immeasurably better.”

Her mum Kathryn was “relieved” she was a a match and says that since the diagnosis, the whole thing has been an “emotional journey”.

Kathryn said: “We’re very lucky that I’ve been able to give her one of my kidneys. I felt like it was something I had to do really.

“When we found out I was the best match I felt incredible relief. It feels like a very special gift and it has been amazing.

“For her to be able to do more normal things again and to be able to be looking forward to the future it’s been really wonderful.

“I feel very happy and relieved and pleased. The emotions are still very overwhelming.”