A FATHER who came within months of dying from kidney failure has been given the best birthday present ever by his wife - the gift of life.

David Daubney, aged 43, hopes to live a normal life after he and his wife, Elaine, underwent kidney transplants at the Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry just five days before his last birthday.

It was David's last-ditch hope after being told he needed a transplant after nearly three years of dialysis and haemodialysis, which he had been on since his kidneys stopped functioning in 2001.

David, who returned to his home in The Meadows, Bidford, last Sunday, said: "It was the best birthday present I could have ever had. I never asked her to do it, it was all her own idea."

He discovered he had kidney failure in 2000, shortly after going for a check-up after his father-in-law was diagnosed with having diabetes.

He said: "At first I thought I might be diabetic, then I was told I had renal failure."

He carried on working, but his life and diet changed. He was only allowed half a litre of fluid each day and had to undergo home dialysis of ten hours and later three-and-a-half hours of haemodialysis a day.

"When you come off dialysis all you want to do is go to bed," he said.

"I was on dialysis for 16 to 18 months and had several operations. It got to a situation where the dialysis wasn't working, so I was changed to haemodialysis, where the blood is extracted, cleansed, and then put back into you.

"I was travelling 200 miles a week just to stay alive, even though I was on the transplant list."

Last year, his wife said she would have a test to see if she could be a donor, "It was a time of great expectation and caution," he said.

The couple also had to prove there had been no collusion for legal reasons before she was approved.

The first transplant in January this year was cancelled because David picked up some antibodies in the blood following a transfusion, but then, on Thursday, February 20, five days before his 43rd birthday, the transplant took place and David's new kidney inserted into his groin.

He now has to visit Walsgrave Hospital three times a week just to make sure his new kidney is working properly. He can also now pretty much eat and drink what he likes.

"I have two daughters, Laura, aged 17, and Lois, 19, and I can now go for a drink with them.

"It's not a cure, it's a treatment, but it has dramatically improved my quality of life and I hope that this might give hope to a lot of people out there."

He also said he would like to thank everyone at the hospital.