Fulham midfielder Kevin McDonald reveals career-long battle against kidney disease

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Kevin McDonald has revealed he has played nearly all of his professional career with kidney disease – with the Fulham midfielder set to undergo a transplant next month.

The 32-year-old Scot has twice won promotion to the Premier League with the Whites, who he joined from Wolves in 2016.

McDonald first knew about his kidney problem when he did a medical before signing for Burnley in 2008.

McDonald told Sky Sports Scotland: “I got a urine test, as normal, and it showed I had blood and protein in my urine. I didn’t feel anything at all, I felt no different.

“We managed to make the move to the club and I didn’t concern myself at all, I just thought I had a kidney issue and I got given a couple of tablets. Over the years my kidney function has got worse – that’s the disease, it gets worse over a period of time.

“We hoped to get through my football career and then get a transplant at the end of it – but unfortunately it’s not happened.

“I’ve got one kidney that doesn’t work and one kidney that is at about 10 per cent now.For a while now I’ve been playing with stage five kidney disease.

“I’ve always been quite relaxed about the transplants. It’s got to be done – whether that is now, a year or 10 years.

“My mind now is that I want to get it done and get back to a normal life. I take 10 tablets a day.

“You might ask your friend for £50 or do they mind getting this drink in? Now I’m asking for kidneys. As long as we can get a match, whoever it is, I’ll be grateful for it. I’m grateful to the people who have offered in the first place. The person who ends up doing it, I owe my life to them.”

McDonald has been helping coach Fulham’s U23 and U18 teams. He has not featured at first-team level this season and is due to be out of contract at the end of June.

“I know when I get a kidney transplant I may not want to come back and play football,” he said. “I might not be able to physically do it any more.

“I’m 32. I need to prepare my mind to maybe not play again, which I’m comfortable with. I’ve accepted that.

“The way I speak to the doctors and surgeons it is a three-month recovery and you can go again. They are fully confident I can get back on the pitch.

“I could hold on and have dialysis four times a week to finish my career but there comes a point when certain things just have to be done. I’ve been under the orders of the doctors my whole career, no-one sees that side of football – people just see you on the pitch and have opinions about you.

“The priority isn’t football. As much as I love playing the priority is my life, my family and my friends. If it means stopping at 32 then I look back and I’ve had a great career – regardless of what happens.”

“I’ve had a lot of questions about why I wasn’t playing and why didn’t I go out on loan. We didn’t want to share at that moment. Here’s your reason. There were certain reasons not to tell anyone. because people at football clubs might not want to do business with you.

“The plan was to get it done in March – covid has delayed things. One of my best mates and my brother are getting worked up as donors – one of them is going to transplant. There are so many pros for me to get it done sooner, with a live donor, rather than later.”

PHOTO: KEITH GILLARD