A lifesaver from Hawick wants locals to see the funny side

Chris Goodwin from Hawick, who donated a kidney to a stranger in the USA, is planning a comedy gig in his home town.

Teenager Chris Goodwin hit the headlines in 2009 when it emerged he was a perfect match for a US relative who desperately needed a transplant.

After the procedure was successfully carried out, Chris, now 29, decided to stay in the States and has recently carved out a reputation as a stand-up comedian.

Now he’s planning to return to the UK to play the Edinburgh Fringe next summer and is hoping to fit in a show in Hawick around the same time.

Chris has become quite a public figure deep in the Heart of Texas in the intervening years, helping oversee a school bond scheme and tackling environmental issues in the state.

Then last year, his long-held ambition to launch a career in stand-up was realised when he played a sold-out gig in his adopted hometown of Jarrell in Williamson County.

The former Hawick High School pupil has been bitten by the comedy bug and is aiming to pursue his dream. But he also admits he left his heart in Hawick – and can’t wait to return and reclaim it. He said: “Well my eye and heart shifts back to the snowy rolling hills of the Borders, as it always does this time of the year. My aim is to come home and play a show in Hawick, hopefully at the town hall. This will coincide with me playing a gig or two at the Edinburgh Fringe. The reason I wanna come back to Hawick is because it’s home. It’s where the heart is. My first show was amazing and I will never forget the feeling, but when I held the Scotland flag behind my back and the crowd started cheering, there was a heartstring being pulled that no one from Hawick was there. I hope to change that next August with a show in the town hall.”

On a separate note, the man he donated his kidney to is alive and well – although Chris is no longer in contact with him.

Chris, who lived in Elm Court in Hawick, said: “He is healthy and working, and appreciates the opportunity to be a granddad and a father. Whilst we don’t speak anymore, due to choices he has made in his life I don’t agree with, there is still that mutual respect and bond that will never die after what we endured together.”

Anyone who wants to contact Chris and help point him in the right direction regarding venues to play on his return to Scotland, email him at [email protected].