A MAN who suffers from a hereditary disease is being supported by the company he works for in a year of fundraising into research into the condition.

Chris Chapman underwent a transplant nine years ago after he was found to be suffering from Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD). The condition, which affects males only, led to the death of Chris’s father when he was seven, and also affects his two sons, Ben, 30, and Sam, 27.

Chris, who lives in Pickering, with his wife June, was diagnosed in 2003 when he went for a health check.

He said: “Although I have asthma and am supposed to go every year, like most men I hadn’t bothered for a while. I decided it was time I went along and they found I had high blood pressure and before I knew it I was at York Hospital having scans and tests before they broke the news that I had ADPKD.”

The disease leads to cysts growing on the inside of the kidney which decrease the function of the kidney until they stop working altogether.

Chris, 57, a quality assurance manager at Thomas the Baker in Helmsley, said: “At the point of diagnosis, my life changed completely. There were regular hospital visits, endless blood tests and major lifestyle changes. Over the following couple of years, my kidney function decreased until it reached seven per cent, which meant I had to go on dialysis. I chose peritoneal dialysis, which meant I was able to do it myself after some training and an operation to insert a tube into my stomach.

“I was left with a foot-long piece of tubing outside of my stomach through which I attached myself to a dialysis machine for 10 hours every night. All this time I was determined to carry on working and trying to have as normal a life as possible.”

In 2009, having spent three years on dialysis, Chris got the call for a transplant which was carried out at St James’ Hospital in Leeds.

Chris said: “Apart from the hospital visits, the regular blood tests and the tablets, life is now as normal as could be - apart from one thing - my transplanted kidney is nine years old and the average life for a transplanted kidney is 10 to 15 years. So there is always that nagging doubt in my mind that one day soon that kidney might fail, which is why the research and development must go on.”

Thomas the Baker, which Chris has worked for for 36 years and where Sam also now works, has now chosen to support Kidney Research UK as its charity of the year following a staff vote.

It will raise funds through various activities, including special cakes and biscuits, selling merchandise and sponsored activities.

Chris said: "I am so delighted that the staff at Thomas’ have voted to have Kidney Research UK as their charity of the year. Every penny counts, and there are literally hundreds of different types of kidney disease, so there’s a lot to be done.”