Sam Vanderpump reveals real reason he refused liver donation offer amid serious health battle
His mum, Simone, was one of the first people to offer
Sam Vanderpump is battling end-stage liver disease, and even though his family were desperate to help, Sam initially turned down the liver donation offer from his mum, and now he’s explained the real reason why.
Sam Vanderpump explains why he refused the liver donation
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Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Sam admitted his first instinct was to protect his loved ones. He said, “That first kind of instinct that my mum had, and other members of my family and friends, was ‘we want to help you, we want to’. And my first reaction is, ‘no, I’ve got this illness, why would I want to subject a loved one to this disease?’”
He went on to explain that fear of something going wrong also played a big part in his decision. Agreeing with presenter Susanna Reid, he said the idea of complications during the process was something he couldn’t ignore.
At the time, Sam was really worried about the potential risks for a living donor. But as he’s learned more, his perspective has actually started to shift.
He explained, “You’ve hit the nail on the head. As we’ve learned more, and you learn a lot more in the documentary, that actually the risk to a live donor is actually so minimal they would only accept 20 per cent of live donors that would volunteer. Because the absolute amount of testing they go through to make sure that there are no risks.”
He added, “And testament to that, in the UK, we’ve had no fatalities from live donors, so it was something I learned recently, and that’s what started to turn my head to maybe accepting and maybe looking into this idea.”
Sam’s mum, Simone, was one of the first people to offer to donate a liver. However, despite her willingness, Sam really struggled with the idea of putting her through surgery, especially as she’s his only living parent.
Eventually, after testing, she was ruled out as a donor. This was devastating for her but also brought Sam some relief.
Since then, loads of people close to Sam have offered to be tested
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Sam’s Made in Chelsea co-star, Gareth Locke-Locke, has stepped forward. And his brother is also currently being assessed as a possible donor. Speaking alongside Sam in the interview, his wife Alice explained how difficult it was to watch him initially refuse help. She said, “I could also relate, because I’d feel the same if I was in his situation. But because we were expecting a baby, it then changed my perspective even more.”
She added, “Because you do think about the worst-case scenario sometimes. And you try not to hold on to that thought. But you have to make decisions in the moment that will be good for your family.”
Alice also admitted, “If I ever looked back in the past and thought, ‘oh, we didn’t look at an option that could have helped Sam’, and something went wrong, I would have really hated myself for it.”
Right now, Sam is on the transplant waiting list while also exploring the possibility of a living donor. And although he was hesitant at first, he’s now more open to the idea than he was before.
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