A HOSPITAL worker has become the first person to receive a resuscitated kidney with the help of a pioneering operation.

Paul Southgate, 31, underwent a successful transplant after doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge managed to revive a kidney refused by all other hospitals.

The kidney had not been flushed of fluids properly after donation making it likely to be rejected by Paul’s body.

However, instead of leaving Paul on dialysis and sending the kidney for research, surgeons used a new machine to warm it up and flush it with vitamins and antibiotics to make it suitable for transplant.

Just two days before his 31st birthday, Paul received his new kidney.

Mr Southgate, of Magnolia Drive, in Greenstead, Colchester, is set to make a full recovery and is hoping to return to work as a housekeeping and catering supervisor at Colchester General Hospital next month.

He said: “It was the best birthday present.

“It was in the early hours of the morning when I was on dialysis – and asleep – when I got the call but I missed it, because my phone was on silent. Luckily, they phoned the home phone and dad woke me up.

“The doctors did the blood tests and still said they weren’t sure it would work but then they came back and said it looked good and they were going to go ahead with it.”

He added: “I think this is amazing. I feel so thankful and grateful for having it.”

Doctors diagnosed Mr Southgate with genetic polycistic kidney disease four years ago which meant cysts growing on his kidney were restricting its function.

His older brother and half-sister also suffered from the disease and have both had successful transplants.

Mr Southgate was hooked up to a dialysis machine for eight hours every day since last May, which involved inserting a tube into his stomach to flush out the waste and excess water from his blood.

Mr Southgate was added to the transplant list last year when his kidney deteriorated to just 12 per cent function.

His donor, a 35-year-old man, also donated his other kidney to a woman on the waiting list.

SCIENTIST Dr Sarah Hosgood has worked on developing the normothermic perfusion machine for the past ten years.

She adapted a cardiac bypass machine for use on kidneys, recirculating the blood which effectively brings the organ back to life.

She said: “Kidneys are usually stored cold in ice but we have got this new technique to warm up the kidney for one hour before the transplant.

“We started a new study because a high percentage of kidneys were being donated but not used so they are offered to research students instead.

“Paul’s kidney was refused by other centres in the UK because it wasn’t flushed properly.

“We resuscitated it and thought it was good quality so transplanted it.

“We have done about 40 successful transplants but Paul is the only one we’ve tried where the kidney wasn’t going to be used.

“Hopefully we can do a few more cases like this. It will change people’s lives compared with living on dialysis.”