November 10, 2009

Nicholas Evans, author of "The Horse Whisperer", is still awaiting a kidney transplant more than a year after accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms.

The author of the book which has sold 15 million copies, and was made into a movie starring Robert Redford, requires 15 hours of dialysis each week.

He was on holiday in Scotland in September last year when members of his family ate a meal including mushrooms which they had picked in woodlands. It was later found to contain a toxic mushroom called Cortinarius speciosissimus, or Deadly Webcap, which affects the kidneys.

Reports at the time said Evans, his wife Charlotte, and two in-laws required dialysis at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Evans' brother-in-law Sir Alistair Gordon-Cumming is also in need of a kidney transplant.

Scotland on Sunday reports the pair are backing a call by fungi expert Professor Roy Watling, who says more people need to be trained in his field in Scotland.

Nicholas Evans chatting with Buck Brannaman, horse consultant on The Horse Whisperer.

He believes lives are being put at risk by a critical shortage of specialists able to identify killer mushrooms.

Watling, 71, still regularly helps hospitals across Scotland and Britain to identify ingested fungi despite retiring 10 years ago.

He identified the fungi eaten by Evans' family.

In most cases, early identification and appropriate early treatment can make a big difference to outcomes.