A SOLDIER saved a former comrade’s life by offering his sick pal a kidney.
Crispin D’Apice donated his organ to help Paul Baines.
The pair served together in the Coldstream Guards in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan — where Paul won a Military Cross.
Lt Col D’Apice, 47, known as Daps, said: “Paul was a comrade who needed a hand. It felt like an instinctive thing to do.
“We weren’t friends so much as comrades, and that is something stronger.”
Former Warrant Officer Paul, 49, said: “He saved my life, without a doubt. It has completely changed my life.”
Paul got the Military Cross for saving a comrade’s life in Helmand in 2009.
He left the Army in 2015 after collapsing on a training course and later found he had kidney disease.
Daps, in the Army Reserves in Okehampton, heard of Paul’s condition from pals.
He said: “I thought, ‘That’s crap, he needs a kidney’.
"We’re both in Devon. It made sense for me to do something. It was a split-second decision.”
Dad-of-two Paul added: “When Daps called me, I was gobsmacked.”
Although the pair were compatible, medics used a scheme to better match donors and recipients.
Daps’ kidney went to a third party, and Paul got one from someone else.
But he said: “Even though I was part of a chain, I feel like I have Daps’ kidney. I feel Daps is a part of me now.”
Saved by big bruv
A NURSE given five years to live after sepsis caused multiple organ failure was saved by a kidney donation — from her brother.
Kristin Hamill was rushed to hospital vomiting blood in June 2022.
Doctors diagnosed her with sepsis. Her kidneys and liver failed and she was told she would not live long on dialysis.
But two years on, the 26-year-old from Greenock, Inverclyde, is still alive and has qualified as a paediatric nurse.
She says it’s all thanks to brother Brendan, 30.
Kristin said: “I’m like a new person.”
The pair now hope their story will encourage others to donate organs.
