A LOCAL woman has spoken of why she chose to donate one of her kidneys to a total stranger.

Viv Calderbank is among more than 250 people in the UK who have undertaken the act of altruistic kidney donation.

Viv, 52, from Millbrook, said: 'A friend told me he was going to give a kidney and I was surprised, as I didn't think it was possible. Having been a registered organ donor for many years, I knew instantly it was something I wanted to do and made an appointment to meet a transplant co-ordinator the very next day.

After 10 months of tests, during which time she says hospital staff provided her with full information and support, Viv finally underwent surgery in 2011.

'I had every confidence in the surgical team,' she said. 'In the groggy aftermath, I wondered how my recipient was doing and was told the next day all had gone well, which was wonderful to hear. Six months later I received a card from my recipient, explaining the simple but so-important way in which her life had changed.

'I was delighted and that card will always remain among my treasured keepsakes.'

Apart from some faint scars, Viv says that her life has gone on just as before.

Dr Chris Burns-Cox is chairman of the charity, Give a Kidney, which aims to raise awareness of altruistic donation.

'Around 300 people in the UK die each year in need of a kidney,' he said. 'Humans only need one kidney to live a perfectly normal, healthy life, and so there are millions of people walking around with the potential to save a life in this way.

'The number of people coming forward to offer a kidney to a stranger is increasing significantly year-on-year.'

Kidney transplants have been taking place in the UK since 1960 and around 1,000 living donor transplants take place in the UK each year. The majority of these transplanted kidneys come from friends or relatives of the recipient.