At a glance…
- Emma Chow and Enzo Lisbona have been married for 11 years, raising two boys and navigating a health crisis.
- When Enzo was diagnosed with kidney disease, Emma made the life-changing decision to donate her kidney to him.
- The couple join host Tiffany Dunk on The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories podcast to share what it means for them to face the unknown together.
Emma Chow was sitting in the doctor’s office with her husband Enzo when she asked the question she’d been thinking about for a while: could she donate one of her kidneys to him?
“I did frame the question as, ‘I think I know the answer to this, but can I do it?’” the 2Day FM radio host recalls. “And [the specialist] shocked me. He was like, ‘Of course.’”
Enzo was just as surprised. “She never told me she was gonna say that.”
Speaking with Tiffany Dunk on The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories podcast, the couple who have been married for 11 years open up about Emma’s decision to donate, the wait to find out whether she was a match, and how they’re preparing their family for what comes next.
Listen to the episode:
After a whirlwind courtship, marriage and the arrival of their two boys – Valentino, 8, and Raphael, 3 – Enzo began to feel unwell. Tests revealed that he had incurable kidney disease. His kidneys were failing and it would be a matter of when – not if – he’d need a kidney transplant.
“When we went and saw the specialist in June this year, he said, ‘Look, we’re gonna need to do a live donor transplant, and it’s gonna need to be in the next six months,’” Emma says.
For Enzo, one of the hardest parts was the thought of asking someone to donate. “How do you go up to someone and just say, ‘Hey, um, can I have, can I have a kidney?’”
Emma had spent years watching her husband struggle with his health. “I was so helpless – there was nothing I could do. And now, finally, I can.”
She was confirmed to be a match but with two young boys at home, Emma worries about both parents going into surgery.
“What happens if everything goes right with Enz, but then something happens with me?”
While you can live a long life with one healthy kidney, being a living donor means major surgery with risks of blood clots, bleeding and infection. There’s also a chance of developing diabetes or kidney problems later on. Emma will need yearly check-ups to monitor her health.
“I want him to be my best friend for as long as possible,” she tells Tiffany. “Our kids adore the ground that he walks on. For as long as we can have him around, I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.”
As they wait for the surgeries, there are appointments and tests with their separate medical teams, and recovery to plan for – two to six weeks for Emma and up to three months for Enzo. Emma’s parents will stay to help look after the children.
“We know when we need each other,” Enzo says. “And we just do it.”
For now, Emma’s hopes are simple: “I just want us to both get through it and be okay after surgery.”
But as daunting as it all is, the couple still find ways to make each other laugh.
“I go around now introducing Emma not as my wife,” Enzo reveals, “but as, as my kidney.”
Watch the episode:
Listen to The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Watch full episodes on YouTube now.
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