A DEVOTED wife from Barrow who donated a kidney to her husband is backing calls for organ donation to work as an 'opt-out' system.

Anne Roberts, of Schneider Road, Barrow, gave the gift of life to her partner, Bryn, in 2013 when the pair underwent a pioneering form of live transplant.

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Mr Roberts had been waiting five years for a match after suffering kidney failure but medical breakthroughs at the time which allowed a donor's blood to be 'washed' of its antibodies meant Mrs Roberts could donate one of her kidneys to her husband despite not being from the same blood group.

The couple, both aged 61, were some of the first patients to undergo the procedure in Manchester.

Vital need

Three years on, both are fighting fit and are supporting the campaign for a pilot opt-out scheme in Wales, which proved to increase the number of successful transplants by 30 per cent in a year, to be extended to Cumbria and beyond.

Mrs Roberts said: "I'd like to think most people would be happy for somebody else to benefit if the worst happens.

"It increases the chance of getting a donor but I also encourage people to consider live donation too. You have two kidneys and if you are perfectly healthy like I was then you only need one.

"I think people don't realise the real shortage of donors there is.

"People think on the transplant list that's it's just a few weeks or months. On the soaps when a character needs an organ miraculously there is one by the next episode. The reality is completely different."

Under the opt-out system, all adults automatically become donors unless they object and take themselves out of the scheme.

Eight in 10 people say they support organ donation but only around a third of people in the UK have opted in by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Many supporters admit they simply haven't got round to joining.

Life-changing operation

Mrs Roberts says the impact of the kidney exchange has been huge, completely transforming both her and her husband's lives for the better.

Prior to the donation, Mr Roberts needed dialysis at home roughly every four hours which meant they couldn't venture far and do the things they wanted to do.

The couple now only need to visit Royal Preston Hospital every two to three months for general check-ups.

Mrs Roberts said: "When you are waiting for a transplant you can't get on with your normal life.

"Even if we wanted to go for lunch in Ulverston, we'd be looking at the clock all the time and thinking of coming home.

"Even your friends have to be organised and think what you can manage to do. The day had to be carefully co-ordinated.

"I do think that people don't realise how much it affects the family when waiting for an organ donation too."

At the moment, 45 people are on the organ transplant list in Cumbria.

In the last five years, 22 people in Cumbria have died waiting for a donation but 129 have had life-changing transplants.

Christmas campaign

Out of a population of nearly half a million, only 183,551 people in Cumbria have signed up as organ donors.

But this Christmas, NHS Blood and Transplant hopes to boost those numbers with the message: 'faffing can be fatal and loafing can be lethal'.

Sally Johnson, NHS Blood and Transplant director of organ donation and transplantation, said: "It's a terrible shame that so many people who want to save lives through organ donation have not taken the next, simple step to register that decision.

"We all have busy lives, yet most of us would admit that we still find ourselves whiling time away and delaying doing important things.

"Signing up to the NHS Organ Donor Register is one thing we know people often just haven't got around to doing."

In Wales, just six per cent of adults have opted out of the system since it launched.

It only takes a few minutes to join the NHS Organ Donor Register. To join, click here .