A HUSBAND has given his wife one of the best Christmas presents she could wish for – the gift of life.

Clive Holton selflessly donated one of his kidneys to Mandy, his wife of 24 years, after she became ill for the second time.

“I was just so grateful that he did this for me,” she said.

"This Christmas we just want to get on with our lives and I think this is the best present I could have ever wished for.”

Mrs Holton, aged 44, received the life-saving organ, which she has nicknamed ‘Sydney’, from her husband at the end of October.

She had already undergone a kidney transplant when she was in her 20s, and nicknamed the organ ‘Sheila’.

It started to fail three-and-a-half years ago and she has since had to endure regular dialysis sessions.

“It was just such a shock when my donor kidney failed after 11 years,” she said. “It just stopped overnight and I was in such a lot of pain. I just kept hoping that we could do something to keep it working, but it just stopped.”

The couple, who live in Coventry Avenue, St John’s, Worcester, first thought they had to wait for a cadaveric kidney – one donated from a dead person – but doctors then told them about live donors.

Mrs Holton’s father John Harris offered his kidney to her, but tests showed that he was not quite healthy enough, so her husband offered his own.

Mr Holton, aged 50, said: “I didn’t give it a second thought to be honest, so I went for the tests.

“My biggest fear was them finding something wrong with me and not being able to help Mandy.

“People have told me how brave I am and they wouldn’t do it, but if it’s a loved one you just would.”

After weeks of more tests and Mrs Holton having to go for treatments called a plasma wash to rid the body of her own antibodies – so it would be more likely to accept the new organ – the operation went ahead at the Coventry and Warwickshire University Hospital in Coventry.

But it wasn’t all plain-sailing for Mrs Holton as her body at first started to reject the organ.

However, almost one month on, the couple, who have four children – John, aged 23, Michael, 22, Paul, 21 and Becky, 19 are now recovering at home.

“There is a lot of people who don’t know about this living transplant and so we want to raise awareness of it,” Mr Holton said.

“We also want to thank all the staff at the hospital for their care.”