Father-of-four Robert Quarterman has seen his life virtually disintegrate in the past six months.

And like Lori Smith before him, his only hope of a healthy future relies on someone else’s death.

The 32-year-old former chef from Kidlington has been a diabetic since the age of seven. In April 2008 his kidneys failed, leaving him unable to work and with his future hanging on a kidney and pancreas transplant.

He said: “Diabetes had been something I had learned to live with, and up until a couple of years ago I was coping well, working very hard as a chef at Campsfield House in Kidlington and supporting my family.

“But suddenly I started to suffer diabetic fits and everything went downhill fast. I went to the doctor who did blood tests and then to the kidney unit at the Churchill Hospital where I had more tests.

“In April last year, the doctors told me the shattering news my kidneys had failed and that I needed dialysis — fast.”

By June, Mr Quarterman’s hectic work and fun home life had fallen apart.

As well as taking 21 tablets a day, he injects himself four times a day with insulin and endures four half-hour sessions of peritoneal dialysis, in which toxins are pumped out through a tube in his stomach.

He said: “I had a catheter fitted in my stomach so I could dialysise at home, but I went from working 13-hour days to provide for my family, to not being able to work at all.

“I can’t get up at all some days, I am so exhausted, and even walking is becoming a problem. My eyesight is becoming affected too.

“Thankfully my partner Sarah is amazing — she makes sure I take all my medicines and injections and regularly tests my blood levels, but it’s been hard on all the family, including our children who have seen their dad become very ill, very quickly.

“When the doctors told me I needed dialysis, they also told me I could be waiting anything from 18 months and upwards for a transplant.

“Finding a kidney is difficult enough without needing a pancreas too.

“I just hope I won’t have to wait too long for a transplant. I know how much it could change my life, but I am also aware that my best chance of survival lies with someone else dying and that feels strange.

“I would urge anyone who hasn’t already signed up to the register to do so.”

Register online at oxfordmail.net/news/community/givingthegiftoflife/howtoregister/