By Marjory Inglis, health reporter

A 24-YEAR-OLD Dundee mother-of-two has given her husband a kidney in a life-changing operation.

Suzanne and Steven Fyans have been married for almost six years and throughout that time he has suffered from kidney failure.

Five years ago he had to give up work because of the toll of the disease and the thrice-weekly trek to Ninewells Hospital for kidney dialysis when a life saving machine took over the job of cleaning his blood.

Steven (33) became a full-time house-husband and Suzanne worked full-time as a hairdresser. Now he’s hoping to get back to work and to “getting back to normal.”

It is Steven’s second kidney transplant and everyone is hoping it will be a success. In August 2001 he was given the kidney of a stranger with the agreement of the bereaved family but Steven developed a rare form of cancer associated with the transplant and it had to be removed after six months.

His brother and sister went through tests but their blood group made them unsuitable for live organ donation. He was “reluctant” to let his young wife donate a kidney but after test results showed she was a suitable match, Suzanne persuaded the man she fell for on her 16th birthday to go ahead with the operation.

Now the couple are back home in Charleston just two weeks after a specialist team at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary removed Suzanne’s kidney and gave Steven her precious gift.

But for now the family are not totally back together: Steven’s mum Sheila is taking on most of the care of their daughter Gabrielle (2) and her big brother Kasey (7). Gabrielle in particular is just too much for mum and dad to handle at the moment and too young to understand what’s going on.

“I am not allowed to pick her up,” said Suzanne, so the wee one is sleeping over at granny’s house. “She likes to come in to bed with mum and dad and if she kicks out that is going to be sore. Until we feel 100% she won’t come home overnight. It will be at least another four weeks before I am allowed to pick her up.”

Steven said his kidneys started failing 12 years ago and in 2001 the problem became so acute he had to go on dialysis. With demand for kidneys far outstripping supply, he was very fortunate to be offered an apparently suitable cadaver kidney just six weeks after going on dialysis.

But the family’s happiness was short-lived after the kidney failed and Suzanne became determined to look at the option of giving Steven one of her own kidneys. She said one of the reasons she wanted to tell the family’s story was to highlight the need for donated organs and the fact that non-blood relatives could donate organs.

“Loads of people I speak to are under the misapprehension you have to be related,” said Suzanne, who added that she supports plans to introduce “presumed consent” where those who do not wish their organs to be retrieved after death would have to “opt out” rather than continue the current scheme of opting in to donation.

Transplant patients can also require blood donations to replace blood lost during surgery.

“I strongly believe people should go and give blood. Even if this article makes people go and give blood I would be happy.”

The couple also wanted to thank all those who supported them through the transplant, in particular the medical and surgical teams at Ninewells and ERI, their families and Suzanne’s boss Sean Forsyth, of Forsyth’s, in Whitehall Crescent.

“He has kept me on full pay and he doesn’t have to do that,” said Suzanne, who expects to be off work for between six to eight weeks.