A nurse who was able to receive a kidney transplant thanks to her son welcomes the new law change for organ donation.

Peggy West, 50, from Kings Langley said she was told she needed a transplant in January 2018 due to her Renal disease.

According to the NHS, it is a long-term condition where the kidneys don't work as well as they should, and the kidneys can stop working altogether.

Mrs West's kidney function was at six percent and she was put onto the list in July of the same year.

But she said nine people she knew stepped forward to be donors including her husband, son and daughter.

After a test, it was found that her son, who was 21 at the time, was a 100 percent match with Peggy. She underwent surgery on May 22 2019 at Hammersmith Hospital.

She was put in the high dependency unit at the hospital for eight days, and was eventually allowed to go home to be looked after by her son and husband.

Watford Observer:

Peggy before her surgery. Credit: Peggy West.

She said: "I felt like I was very lucky, people say how can you say you were lucky but I was. I had superb support from the NHS.

"I had the most amazing team round me and my family round me, and my son was in the bed next to me."

She has welcomed the new law change for donation, which came in to effect yesterday (May 20), known as Max and Keira's law.

Under the new law, all adults in England are considered as having agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

This is unless they record a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

She said: "I think it is a great idea, there is nothing wrong with donating an organ. You can donate a kidney and live a full life with just one.

"I would like to encourage people to think about donation."

A year on, her kidney function is more than 80 percent, and she is currently working from home for a company as a clinical adviser for nurses, doctors and other key workers as she considered to be at risk of catching coronavirus.

In her spare time, she is raising money for NHS Charities Together which support staff, volunteers and patients impacted by Covid-19, by walking 365 miles around her garden.

She began her fundraiser on April 22 and will finish tomorrow (May 22) to mark exactly one year since her transplant operation.

She added: "I'm doing the 365 miles powered by the gift of life."

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/