As you go Christmas shopping, spare a thought for Sue Sharman who says she has already received the best present of all from her husband John - the gift of life.
Mr Sharman, 57, of Armond Road, Witham, helped save his wife's life by giving her one of his kidneys.
The couple were today doing well following the operation three months ago and look forward to a very special Christmas.
Mrs Sharman, 54, was told by doctors her kidneys were failing five years ago and her health began to go downhill during the next two years.
She needed a kidney donation and Mr Sharman decided he was the obvious choice.
Mrs Sharman is still taking a mixture of anti-rejection drugs and steroids, and she has to visit Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where the operation was carried out, once a fortnight.
But her medication is being reduced and at one stage she was visiting the hospital twice a week.
She is also regaining her strength and beginning to take up her interests again.
She said: "Things are going really well and I am even back line dancing. I am so grateful I was taken ill last January and was on dialysis.
"When you think some people have been on dialysis for 25 years, my future quality of life looked gloomy, but the operation has given me a new lease of life."
Meanwhile, Mr Sharman has been discharged from the hospital and is back working four days a week.
Published Monday, December 16, 2002
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