A DIALYSIS patient from Corsham has described the donation of a kidney by a friend as “the greatest gift”.

Dick Cooke, 53, of Charlwood Road, has been inundated with messages of support after undergoing a kidney transplant operation, with the organ donated by his friend of 20 years Victoria Conrad, 54.

The pair underwent operations at Southmead Hospital in Bristol on December 2, with Mr Cooke, a self-employed tree surgeon and landscape architect, returning home on Tuesday and Mrs Conrad, a nurse at Box Surgery, going home on Sunday.

Mr Cooke said: “I felt a bit rough after the operation but I feel fantastic now.

“Victoria is beginning to feel better. She recovered from the operation really quickly.

“I went in poorly and then got repaired and came back feeling better, but poor Victoria went in feeling normal and comes out feeling damaged.

“I’m so emotional – it is such an extraordinary thing she has done for me. It’s the greatest gift.

“We have been overwhelmed by messages of support from people, even schoolchildren I have never met. There were people in the hospital talking about the article in the paper. We feel very special.”

Before the operation Mr Cooke spent four years using a dialysis machine daily after cancer destroyed his kidneys following four bouts of the disease.

Now the operation is complete he will have to attend a clinic at Southmead every other day for a month, reducing to twice a week the following month and once a week the next.

At the clinic his blood will be tested to ensure the anti-rejection drugs are doing their job.

Mr Cooke said he was looking forward to meeting Mrs Conrad now they are both home.

*To find out more about becoming an organ donor see www.uktransplant.org.uk or call 0845 60 60 400.