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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
World
Kate Lally

'I met the love of my life the day I got married to somebody else'

A woman met her fiancé on the day she got married to somebody else, and their relationship later took another twist.

Kerry Swinton, 46, got married to her now ex-husband in June 2011. During her big day, she met his friend Mark Taylor, 52, and they even got a group photo together.

After three years, Kerry's marriage broke down and she filed for divorce in January 2015. When moving a piano four years later, Kerry was looking on Facebook for a local man with a van when she stumbled across Mark's services.

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After she hired him, they began chatting before Mark ''showed up with a bundle of flowers'' a few months later. Mark and Kerry moved in together in November 2020 before his health took a turn for the worse.

In December 2021, Mark went into Kidney failure due to a genetic disorder. With little hope of a kidney donor, Kerry was tested and within weeks medics broke the news they were a ''perfect match.''

Kerry donated her Kidney to Mark after a successful surgery that left them both in the clear. Kerry, a business owner from Telford, said: "I never thought the man I met at my wedding would be my perfect match.

"I thought he was kind but never imagined he'd end up being the love of my life with one of my organs. I never thought I would ever donate a kidney.

''It's very surreal. But I saw how much it was affecting his everyday life. He could barely walk without being in pain. And now I can't get him to sit down.''

"He had my heart and now he's got my kidney" (Kerry Swinton / SWNS)

Kerry said: "I can't believe he's in my wedding pictures. I've known Mark a long time and I always liked him."

Kerry and her ex-partner went on to have a daughter together, Annabelle, 10, before calling it a day and divorcing. She threw herself into single life, but after four years of dates and short-term relationships, Kerry decided to stay single to focus on her work.

But when she met Mark again by chance they began chatting ''nearly every day'' and after dating briefly, Mark moved into Kerry's home, in November 2020.

A year later, Mark's health began to get agonising back pain due to a family condition, polycystic kidney disease - a genetic disorder that causes fluid-filled cysts to grow on the kidneys. Mark started on dialysis to cleanse the kidneys for six weeks.

On Boxing Day 2021, Kerry rushed Mark to the Queen's Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after a constant nosebleed left them worried. Doctors revealed that Mark's kidney function had decreased drastically and immediately put him on a dialysis machine.

While Mark was being put on the machine, Kerry asked if she could be tested to see if her kidney would be suitable for a potential donation. A couple of months later, Kerry was told she was indeed a match.

Kerry said: "The chances were so slim. To think that after finding each other after all those years and to be a match, we were so emotional."

After both Mark's parents died due to this condition it was such a relief to him. He said: "I cried my eyes out. I knew the chance she was taking to save me."

The couple discussed their options and Kerry decided that she wanted to go ahead. The transfer was a success, and the two recovered at home before returning to work just six months later.

Mark said: "I never thought delivering a piano would get me a kidney. I owe her the world, she's giving me another chance at life."

The pair now are engaged, and they plan to get married in the new year. Kerry, said: "I feel the absolutely same.

"I feel like more people should do this. It's barely affected my ability to work. He had my heart and now he's got my kidney."

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