Brave Hartlepool man helped to get home after playing a charity DJ gig - while waiting for a transplant

But Richard Griffiths said ‘I would do it all again tomorrow’ after he performed a set for 90 minutes at Seaton Reach and helped to raise money for Kidney Research UK.

Richard went into kidney failure late last year and now has dialysis three times a week at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle as he waits for a transplant.

He was still determined to be one of the DJs who got on stage last Saturday at a music and family fun day called At The Beach in Hartlepool. It was held at Hornsey’s Bar and it was packed, said Richard who organised the event.

It went well but Richie paid a heavy price for his courage. He said: “I struggled. I played for one and a half hours but I was in pain while I was there."

When it was all over, he ‘had to get help into my house and to get me on to my sofa. After that, I pretty much stayed there until the Monday when I had to go to hospital for dialysis.”

Richard said: “I would do it all again tomorrow. This is my kind of escape.”

The Hartlepool DJ is the man behind the Retrofest brand which started last year. In 2021, 300 people turned up for the first ever Retrofest which was held at the Mayfair Centre in Seaton Carew.

Ten DJs provided more than 12 hours of entertainment with around £1,500 raised for the Hartlepool charity Miles for Men.

Just five days before the festival, doctors told Richard his kidneys were only functioning at around 12 per cent of their capacity. Since then, his health has suffered further.

Four days after Retrofest 2021, his kidneys failed completely but Richard is still not finished with live performances.

Next comes this year’s Retrofest festival event on Friday, November 4, in Middlesbrough with a through-the-night line-up of entertainment on the way from 8pm at Stereo nightclub.

Richard, 42, is organising events with the excellent help of Hartlepool pals Mally Hubbert and Kelly Lerigo.

He said the At The Beach event in Hartlepool last weekend was free but there was a collection for charity which has raised more than £400.

And so many people turned up that he hopes to arrange another event at Hornsey’s Bar next year.

"The place was pretty much full before we started and there were people coming from Newcastle and Alnwick.”

Richard has regularly made the Hartlepool Mail headlines for his battling spirit which has stretched over decades.

We told how he was diagnosed with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, a rare blood disorder which he was told would limit his life to 25 years. He defied the odds to reach 42.

He is determined to keep performing as a DJ and is looking forward to the Middlesbrough gig.

Retrofest itself has Allister Whitehead as the headline act as well as Neil Foreel as a special guest. There are numerous support acts and tickets are £15 on the early bird scheme, or £20.

Richie is hoping to raise money for Kidney Research UK. To find out more, visit the Retrofest squad Facebook page.