Loving husband gives ultimate gift and saves wife with kidney

Mr and Mrs Sedgwick from Chase Terrace have been dealing with Jane's ill health for years, but things were getting more and more desperate as her kidney deteriorated.

However, Jane, 70, was saved after not only her husband, but also her daughter and son-in-law, all put themselves forward as donors and all came out as matches.

"My kidneys have been going down slowly over the years," she said. "I was getting ready to start dialysis when I went to a meeting and Peter put his hand up to donate me his kidney.

"The family have been golden. I was very lucky because I had a lot people around me come forward.

"Peter, my daughter and son-in-law were tested and all three came back as match – my daughter was a perfect match but I couldn't take hers.

"But the anti-rejection drugs are that good these days that it doesn't matter that Peter's kidney wasn't perfect."

Mr Sedgwick, aged 59, works as a self-employed general maintenance worker. He spent five days in Birmignham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital following the operations while his wife was there for a fortnight.

Almost a month after the transplant which took place on March 19, the couple of 35 years say they can feel themselves getting better and better as each day goes by.

Mrs Sedgwick said: "We're recovering well and everybody says we're looking great since the operation. Neither of us can do any lifting or anything but we're walking about and doing things here and there.

"The hospital were wonderful. Hospitals and the NHS get so much bad press but all we got was first class treatment from start to finish.

"I have to mention the kidney transplant coordinator Karen Hodgson too who went way above her duties expected of her.

"She's been there from the start, ringing us up out of ours making sure we're okay. She is absolutely marvellous.

"If it wasn't for these people and the NHS wasn't there I don't know what we would do."

If it had not have been for the transplant, Mrs Sedgwick would have had the choice of home dialysis or regular visits to the hospital to receive the treatment.

Dialysis is the process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is used primarily as an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with kidney failure.

Since the operations, the couple have been visiting the Queen Elizabeth for regular blood checks twice a week, which is will soon drop to just once a week.

Jane says she is looking forward to getting back to gardening and can't thank her husband enough for his loving gesture.

"It will take a few more weeks before we're back to full fitness but I can't wait to get back into the garden with Peter. I don't drive so I like walking lots and knitting and sewing too, she said.

"Peter means the world, I can't believe what he's done for me – but I guess I must mean to the world to him as well."