BARRY Evans sat by the telephone and cried in disbelief when a nurse rang him to say he was a match for a kidney that had just been donated.
He knew the significance of the conversation could spell an end to more than six years of pain, which had seen him unable to exercise, balloon in weight and sink into depression.
It was back in 2006 when he'd just landed his dream job and married the love of his life that he found out his kidneys were failing.
Then came that phone call. "I burst into tears on the phone. I couldn't believe this was happening to me, and that someone could be so generous. No one will ever understand the pain – I knew this news meant I could get my life back," said the 34-year-old, of St Michael's Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield.
He was only 27 years old when the first signs of his condition appeared, while he was taking schoolchildren from Manor Academy, in Mansfield Woodhouse – where he had just been employed as a maths teacher – on a camping trip.
His ankle swelled with fluid and became too painful to bear any weight, so he was admitted to hospital but initially given painkillers and sent home.
It was only hours later when he couldn't stop vomiting and was taken to hospital for a second time, that medics ran a series of tests and discovered his kidneys were failing.
For almost a year, he had to walk around on crutches because he suffered regular gout attacks in his legs, caused by fluid building up because his organs were failing to filter out any toxins.
And to counteract this he was put on a course of strong steroids which led to him putting on more than three stone.
Just days before Barry answered that memorable phone call in February, he had been operated on to widen his arteries to prepare him for regular kidney dialysis.
His skin had started to turn yellow and doctors found that only eight per cent of his kidneys were functioning correctly.
But on May 31 this year, he went to the City Hospital to have a new kidney implanted.
"The new kidney has changed my life. My wife and I have, for the last six years, tried to start a family but the steroids I was on prevented this from happening.
"Now we are hoping we'll have a chance to do that. I'm now able to exercise and the colour of my skin has changed. "When my wife saw me, she said, 'you look human again'."
The healthy kidney Barry received came from an altruistic donation – meaning that the donor and recipient were not known to each other.
He has told his story to mark the fact that Nottingham University Hospitals Trust has carried out its first altruistic kidney donation, when mum-of-two Lesley Turner gave away her right kidney.
"She really is a remarkable woman and, hopefully, this will be the start of more altruistic donations for the trust," said Karen Stopper, a qualified nurse and the donor co-ordinator for Nottingham's hospitals.
Barry said: "People need to realise how much donating an organ means to somebody. "What Lesley has done I think is tremendous. Words cannot describe how much admiration I have for people who altruistically donate."
Self-sacrifice for the benefit of others is the definition of altruism.
For Mrs Turner, the only reminder of her selflessness is a four-inch scar across her lower stomach.
She said she did not donate her organ for recognition, or for admiration, but rather because she wanted to give someone else the opportunity to live life to the full.
She said: "I want people to realise that donating a kidney is amazing.
"But that doesn't make me amazing – the surgeons are amazing.
"Donating a kidney was for me a real opportunity to help another person. I feel very privileged to have been able to do it."
Anyone of any age can donate a kidney. Donors have to be physically and psychologically assessed before the operation can go ahead.
Dr Dale Gardiner, clinical lead for organ donation with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Every year nationally, hundreds of people die while waiting for an organ transplant and many others lose their lives before they even get on to the transplant list. There remains a serious shortage of organs.
"In the past year in Nottingham, 13 donors have allowed 39 patients to benefit from 40 organs.
"This generosity has also accounted for the high numbers of kidney transplants that have been carried out at our hospital – 74.
"Though no one would wish it, there may come a moment when your family and loved ones are asked what your wishes are about organ donation.
"As an intensive care doctor who has these conversations with families, I can tell you that the worst thing you can do to them is leave them uncertain about your wishes.
"If you believe in adding hope and giving life through the gift of organ donation, then please join the NHS Organ Donor Register.
"Registering is important even if you already have a donor card. Cards can get lost or damaged and you may not be carrying yours when you are taken to hospital."
To find out more about donating an organ, call the organ donation team at NUH on 0115 969 1169 extension 59405.
Have you donated an organ, or been the recipient of one? What do you think of the idea of altruistic donation? Call our newsdesk on 0115 905 1953 or e-mail newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk