A mother’s desperate search for a kidney donor for her seriously ill daughter took a “really bonkers” turn when the journalist she approached for help turned out to be a perfect match.
Maria Solecki, from Hadleigh, Essex, described the unexpected development after her 16-year-old daughter, Maya, suffered severe kidney damage following an E.coli infection in January 2024.
Ms Solecki, 48, an executive assistant for a local charity, had been tested herself but was not a suitable donor, nor were other family members or contacts found via social media.
Deciding to broaden her appeal, she contacted her local newspaper, the Echo, in March 2025. In what she called a “very unexpected twist”, the reporter assigned to the story was found to be compatible.
The transplant operation successfully took place in January this year. Ms Solecki expressed her profound gratitude, stating her hope that the journalist, 51-year-old Emma Palmer, “remains part of Maya’s life forever”.
Maya described Ms Palmer as “my hero” and added: “I keep telling her I wish there was a bigger phrase than thank you.”
“When we got the call (saying there was a donor match) it just didn’t feel real,” said Maya.
“Honestly, I was on my last bit of will power.”
The teenager said she will “always have a chronic condition” but that “with this treatment, I do feel better, I feel amazing, I feel the best I’ve felt since I initially got ill”.
Ms Solecki said she was told that, after contacting her local newspaper, around 20 people came forward for testing.
“I was not privy to anybody who was testing at all,” said Ms Solecki.
“Time went on and we sort of waited and Maya was becoming more and more ill and struggling to cope on dialysis.
“It wasn’t until November at the end of last year that Emma’s identity was finally revealed once she passed all of the health checks and everything.
“You can imagine my reaction. I was incredulous.
“I could not believe that of all the people we tested, it was actually the journalist who I first made contact with that proved to be a good match and had the operation.”
She described it as “really bonkers” and a “very unexpected twist”.
The operation went ahead nine weeks ago, and Ms Solecki said while “there’s still quite a lot of recovery to do”, her daughter’s life is “certainly 100% better”.
“As a parent there are simply no words of gratitude that are enough for somebody who altruistically comes forward to save the life of your child, a child they don’t even know,” said Ms Solecki.
Ms Palmer, writing in the Echo, said she decided to get tested to see if she was a match after she learned – in an update after the Echo carried an initial appeal – that no one had yet been found.
Asked why she decided to give a kidney, she said: “Why wouldn’t I?
“I’ve had 50 good years and am blessed with a wonderful and healthy family.
“To think that a 15-year-old girl – as she was at the time – was having to go through so much and giving up hope just really got to me.”
She said that she has met Maya and her mother twice and “I feel like we are family already”.
“Maya gave me the longest hug I think I’ve ever had in my life when I went to see them and they bought me a wonderful necklace with the date of the operation engraved on it,” she said.
Ms Solecki said the wait for a donor kidney can be more than three years long and there are some 150 children waiting for a kidney.
“The call to action is for anyone who might want to donate to a child or a young person, please don’t hesitate and get somebody else off dialysis and give them a chance at a normal life,” she said.
