A-League referee gives sister greatest gift

A-League assistant referee David Walsh would have been excused if he had other things on his mind as he took up his place running the line during the FFA Cup semi-final between Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC last night.

The 34-year-old is set to go under the knife as he donates a kidney to his dying sister Joanne Vecchio within a fortnight, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.

Walsh's sister has been battling kidney failure for the past 17 years with the illness severely limiting her quality of life.

She has been forced to undergo dialysis every second day for the past five years, but now the 36-year-old is set to receive another chance at a normal life thanks to her brother. 

With the average life expectancy of patients relying on dialysis only 5-10 years, Walsh jumped at the chance to help his sister when tests revealed he and his brother Tom were compatible donors.

10 years ago their late father Edward Walsh gave his daughter Joanne a kidney. While her body accepted it for five and a half years it eventually rejected it.

Walsh, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, said he jumped at the chance to help his sister.

“Most people don’t have two live donors available. It’s very, very rare,” he said.

“My brother and I were both happy to step up if we needed to. It is a big deal, but dad has already been through it and they do a few hundred of them every year in Australia.

“I was quite happy to go through with it because I’ve got a spare and mine are pretty good.

“So it’s great that, all going well in a couple of weeks, we can get some resolution and she can get back to her normal life.”