A kidney patient of nearly 30 years at the Royal Free Hospital has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s 2021 Birthday Honours List for services to renal patients.

David Myers spent eight years on dialysis before receiving his first kidney transplant at the Royal Free Hospital in 1998. He then received a live kidney transplant in 2017, as part of a three-pair pooled kidney transplant exchange where his wife, Martha, donated a kidney to a stranger so that all the operations could be successfully completed.

David, who is chair of the Royal Free Organ Donation Committee and life president of the Royal Free Hospital Kidney Patients Association (RFHKPA), said: “I have been working on behalf of my fellow kidney patients for over 20 years. I have been promoting organ donation, in particular living kidney donation, for many years to communities served by the Royal Free London group. I also recently completed my third term as a Royal Free Hospital governor, where I looked after the interests of all patients.

“I feel very grateful to be awarded this honour but it would not have happened without the amazing care and treatment I have had from the Royal Free Hospital renal team and this incredible NHS system, which has given me additional years to live my life, share that with Martha and also the strength to carry on with my work.

“I have always said, whatever I do for kidney patients, I can never pay back what I have received from the NHS. I feel that I will be accepting this honour on behalf of my long-term consultants Peter Dupont, Andrew Davenport, surgeons Bimbi and Ossie Fernando, Royal Free Hospital medical director and renal consultant John Connolly and also my colleagues from RFHKPA and the Royal Free Organ Donation Committee.”

Kate Slemeck, chief executive of the Royal Free Hospital, said: “We would like to be the first to congratulate David on his well-deserved award. David’s tireless work to promote organ donation, across all our communities, is outstanding.  He is also a passionate patient advocate and is someone we are very proud to call a friend of the Trust.”