In the dryland farming district of Peebinga in South Australia’s Mallee region, Bernie Lehmann is deep in harvest.
About 210 kilometres east of Adelaide, the 62-year-old, fourth-generation farmer is busy reaping the fruits of his labour.
The cereal-crop seedlings he planted months ago have sprung to life, and Mr Lehmann is in fit condition to spend long days collecting the goods.
None of it would have been possible without the recent life-changing gift from his daughter, Sarah Kloeden.
“I find it hard to express how I feel about what Sarah’s done for me,” he said.
‘Crook kidneys’
Mr Lehmann said he was at a Saturday country football game in 2016 when he felt like something was wrong.
“I was feeling a bit lousy, and went home that night and realised something wasn’t quite right,” he said.
“I just had no energy and went to the toilet through the night and my pee was red, and that was the trigger to do something.”
The Mallee farmer went to the doctor and found out he had a kidney function issue.
“My father had crook kidneys and his father did as well, so it’s in the family,” Mr Lehmann said.
“At that point it [kidney function] was about 27 per cent, and we got it back up to 45 per cent over probably a six-month period.
“Then it slowly fell away over the next four or five years until 2021 when it collapsed completely.”
After nearly a year of peritoneal dialysis at home, the busy man of the land started the more effective but intensive haemodialysis, which is delivered at hospital.
“Haemodialysis is like a seven-hour gig every second day, so it took a lot of time away from the farm,” Mr Lehmann said.
That’s when one of his children, Sarah Kloeden, put up her hand to be a kidney donor.
‘Not allowed to donate’
Ms Kloeden, a 35-year-old Loxton woman running her own busy household, said it was a no-brainer.
She was feeling fearless and determined to help.
But Ms Kloeden and her two siblings were warned that like their father, they too could have the same genetic condition causing kidney failure.
“Mum sat us all down and said, ‘You guys are not allowed to donate’,” she said.
“Meanwhile I’m just like, ‘Ha, watch me’.”
The farmer’s daughter jumped into action, starting the process to become a donor, aware the odds might not be in her favour.
“I knew full well it might not be able to happen, but managed to jump through all the hoops thank goodness,” Ms Kloeden said.
“You need to have a decent match. You’re never going to be a perfect match, but we’re as perfect as you can get, me being 50 per cent his DNA.”
Surgery day finally arrived in August this year, and the father and daughter prepared for what laid ahead.
“Call me crazy, I was actually super excited,” Ms Kloeden said.
“I didn’t have any concerns really. I was just, like, ‘I’m gonna do this, we’re gonna get this done, we’re gonna do it as fast as we can’.
“Time is the most important thing to me, and I think to most people, and if I can give Bernie an extra seven hours every second day, how cool is that?”
Harvesting new life
Mr Lehmann is now in fighting-fit condition to tackle long days in the field.
He’s working hard on his land harvesting wheat, barley, lupins and canola after a season of sowing new life into the ground.
“I was told that I would need to have 10-12 weeks off, but I’ve recovered really strongly and way better than expected,” he said.
“I’m only at week nine now and I’ve been working on the farm for five weeks.
“I feel like I’ve got most of my strength back and I’m working as normal, I generally feel terrific.”
Ms Kloeden said donating her kidney to her father was just something that “needed to be done”.
Mr Lehmann said he had always had a tight-knit relationship with his daughter, and nothing had changed.
“We’re pretty close, I don’t think there’s too much difference,” he said.
“I find it hard to express how I feel about what Sarah’s done for me, I probably still haven’t spurted that out really.
“We obviously love each other, and that’s how it’s all come about anyway.”
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