Legendary footballer Andy Cole has joined forces with Kidney Research UK to launch the Andy Cole Fund and advance research to transform kidney transplants and help patients with their mental health and wellbeing. Join Andy's team today and help kick kidney disease to the sideline.

In 2015, five years after hanging up his boots, Andy's world fell apart when he suffered kidney failure. Andy's brush with death began when he returned from Vietnam where a virus attacked his kidney. Two years of medication to try to improve its function ended with the bombshell that he could die without a transplant. With his kidney working at only 7%, Andy finally admitted the game was up and was lucky to find a match in his nephew, to whom he owes a life-long debt for donating his kidney. As great as a transplant is, it's not a cure and life post-transplant can be emotionally tough. Endless medication, the worry of organ rejection and mentally adjusting to this new normal is exhausting.

After the transplant, he battled depression as he struggled to come to terms with the enormity of the trauma that lay ahead. "No two days are the same and the medication means you're up and down. It's a daily process, it's not easy," he says. "I have good days, I have bad days, but I just try my best to work with it as best I can."

Talking to people, becoming an ambassador for Kidney Research UK and meeting other sufferers have helped Andy through the early, terrifying days. "Hearing the charity's researchers talk about initiatives starting to make the physical and mental kidney disease journey more bearable, was the spark for the fund," he says.

The fund will help improve patients futures, but like in his playing days Andy needs your support now more than ever. Help us #ChangeTheGame and join #TeamAndy