A loving husband has donated one of his kidneys to help his sick wife.

Fireman Adrian Wallis gave up his kidney after his wife, Michele, became ill. Mrs Wallis, 41, of Southcliff Park, Clacton, has now fully recovered thanks to Adrian's sacrifice.

She said: "He is just wonderful, but he has always been wonderful. I am just fortunate I met him. It is an incredible thing to do."

Mr Wallis said he was determined to donate his kidney when he heard his wife would otherwise have had to wait to go on dialysis before a search for a donor.

Mrs Wallis, who works as a customer accounts adviser at the Woolwich, in Jackson Road, Clacton, first found out she was ill when she was 27.

Doctors told her she had polycystic kidney disease, which meant infectious cysts were growing on her kidneys.

"They said that it would affect me in old age," she said. "When you're 27 you don't think about something which will affect you when you are 60. It seems a long way off."

She went for annual check-ups to ensure the problem did not worsen, but by the Christmas of 1998 things had.

"I was getting really tired and the blood tests were showing there was a problem. I was a horrible colour," she said.

Faced with the prospect of needing dialysis treatment and regular trips to Ipswich, doctors said she needed a transplant.

Some friends offered to be a donor, but Mrs Wallis said sub-officer Adrian, 41, also wanted to help.

"I didn't ask him. It's not something you can ask someone to do. Then when they said I could go on the list to have a kidney he suggested he could be a donor," she said.

As the couple have three children they were concerned about the possible risks of both operations.

But Mr Wallis wanted to go ahead with it.

After months of tests to ensure compatibility, the operation went ahead. Mrs Wallis noticed the difference straight away.

She said: "We were in the same ward and Adrian managed to get out of bed the next day and see me.

"People who visited me said my colour was normal straight away."

Mrs Wallis is keen to encourage other people to become organ donors. It's sad to think that people are out there waiting for donors," she added.

The couple first met at the former Pathfields School in Clacton. They were married when she was 21 and Adrian was 22.

Their three children are Helen, 18, Ryan, 16 and Tom, 13.

My Mr Wonderful -- Michele Wallis with her husband, Adrian.

Picture: STEPHANIE MACKRILL

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