{"id":400806,"date":"2018-02-12T13:59:59","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T13:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=400806"},"modified":"2018-02-12T13:59:59","modified_gmt":"2018-02-12T13:59:59","slug":"woman-rejects-marriage-proposal-man-donated-kidney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=400806","title":{"rendered":"Woman rejects marriage proposal from man who donated kidney to her"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man who\u00a0donated\u00a0a kidney to the woman he loves was overjoyed at saving her life \u2013 but saddened when she said no to marriage.<\/p>\n

Simon Louis popped the question to Mary Emmanuelle after nursing her back to health following both their ops.<\/p>\n

He had carried a torch for her over two decades and had secret hopes of spending the rest of their lives together.<\/p>\n

But Mary gently rejected his proposal, though she loved him back, because her health made the future seem uncertain.<\/p>\n

However, the pair vowed to remain friends and Simon, 49, said: \u201cI offered her my heart but I had to settle for giving her my kidney. Whatever happens, I\u2019ll never regret giving her the gift of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Mary, 41, added: \u201cHe is my very best friend and always will be. The love between us is real. He could have died doing what he did for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair first met in a London club in the mid-1990s with Mary, then 20, thinking Simon, 28, was \u201ca good-looking bad boy\u201d.<\/p>\n

They shared an odd smooch and flirted but things between them never progressed further.<\/p>\n

As the years passed they stayed pals, Mary busy with her young son Dwayne and her job as a stockbroker\u2019s secretary while Simon helped his brother organise music events.<\/p>\n

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Mary during her spell in hospital\u00a0(Image: Sunday Mirror)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Simon, who had other relationships but never lost his feelings for Mary, would think of her on Valentine\u2019s Day and buy her a rose or some chocolates.<\/p>\n

Then in September 2014 Mary, who was only 37, suddenly collapsed at home after her skin went yellow. Son Dwayne, then 21, found her on the floor choking in her vomit and she was rushed to Guy\u2019s Hospital in South London.<\/p>\n

She was in a coma for a fortnight after a brain haemorrhage, spent two months in intensive care and was eventually diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease.<\/p>\n

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Mary took Simon on holiday to Spain to thank him for his donation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\u00a0Her only hope was a transplant \u2013 but the chances of a donor being found were drastically reduced because she had very rare B negative blood.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mary said: \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it \u2013 I had been given a death sentence. My name was put on a \u2018dead donor\u2019 list. I could only wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was discharged from hospital in January 2015 but had to return daily to be put on a kidney dialysis machine.<\/p>\n

Simon visited her every day, sometimes staying the night, so he could help her get to and from the hospital.<\/p>\n

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Simon shows off his donor scar\u00a0(Image: Steve Bainbridge\/Sunday Mirror)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n