Husband donates kidney to wife on their wedding anniversary

But Mark Wynn upped the stakes – he gave his wife Sturcha one of his kidneys.

In February last year both of Sturcha's kidneys failed, resulting in her spending three days a week in hospital on dialysis.

She later began dialysis at home five times a week.

But life was difficult until Mark bravely stepped forward to offer one of his kidneys.

After a year of tests to check compatibility, Mark, 40, went under the knife and gave his organ to his wife of a decade on May 12.

Both patients, from High Ercall, near Wellington, are recovering well.

Sturcha, 39, said: "In the beginning I didn't want him to do it. I didn't want to put him through an operation.

"But Mark was certain that he wanted to do it. It has given me my life back.

"I'm still in a lot of pain, but it's getting easier. The first three months are critical - that's when bodies can reject new organs.

"But so far all of my blood tests have been really good. It's gone as well as it could have done."

The transplant has meant Sturcha can now give more time to eight-year-old daughter Ffion.

Sturcha said: "I can now take Ffion to school and pick her up. I can free up much more time for her. This week we took her to Cadbury World as a treat."

Sturcha is hoping to go back to work as a childcare lecturer at Halesowen College in September.

Mark said he was in no doubt about giving his wife a kidney.

He said: "I had two perfectly good kidneys. I could operate just fine with one, whereas Sturcha didn't have any so it was no decision.

"It went really well. The recovery afterwards was tough. It's a long process of recovery for Sturcha but she's doing pretty well. If anything the whole thing has brought us closer together."