Brothers recovering after kidney swop op

Two brothers from Shifnal are recovering well after one donated a kidney to the other.

Mark Mountford, 41, has given his brother Lee one of his kidneys after renal failure meant that Lee, who is 28, had to spend hours undergoing dialysis.

Mark is now back at home, while Lee is making making good progress after the operation in Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Lee has suffered only minimal complications after the operation.Mark, who was discharged from hospital last Tuesday, said: "Not all kidneys kick in straight away but Lee's did, apart from a small part of it.

"But we have received news that it is all starting to function properly now, which is great.

"I went to visit him for the first time on Monday, but I have been speaking to him every day on the phone and, like me, he has got his appetite back and we are both eating loads.

"I am fine now. I had a slight chest infection which I was treated for and, but for a bit of pain where the incision is, I'd never know I had had an operation."

Lee's fiancee, Michelle Paggett, 27, has visited him every day and said that he was hoping to get back to normality and was feeling grateful for the opportunity his brother had given him.

She said: "The signs are good for Lee's full recovery and I am sure he'll be allowed home this week.

"He feels very very well."

Before the operation Lee said he wanted to thank Mark.

"This is going to change my life and my whole family's life.

"I want to personally thank him and and his partner Louise for their support," he said.

He said the transplant would mean he could get back to work and play sport, but one of the first things he would do when he came out of hospital was set a date for his wedding.

Miss Paggett said Lee was feeling grateful for the opportunity his brother had given him but Mark said he didn't feel like a hero.

"If you'd have seen me an hour before the operation, you'd know I wasn't a hero, I was so nervous," he said.