IT is the ultimate gift.

A Huddersfield nurse has donated a kidney to save her sister.

The two siblings are now urging other people in Huddersfield to sign on the organ donor register and save lives.

Grandmother-of-three Audrey Walker, of Scapegoat Hill, gave her organ to older sister Patricia last month.

Both women are now back at home with their husbands, recovering from the after-effects of their operations.

Audrey’s husband Michael and Patricia’s brother Stewart are brothers.

Patricia, of Golcar, said: “The morning after we had the operation I asked Audrey what would mum and dad have thought of it all?

“She just said that they would have been really pleased because they had brought us up to share.

“It’s a marvellous thing she’s done. It’s a massive gift and a fantastic gift and it gives you back your life again.”

Patricia first became ill in her early 20s but doctors have never been sure why her organs failed.

She had her first kidney transplant when she was 33, and the donated organ lasted for 20 years until it failed.

After that, she was on a dialysis machine for nine hours each day while she waited for a suitable kidney match.

Patricia said: “Audrey had her tissue tested and it was a match.

Then she had to go for lots of other tests. It is a long and complex procedure and takes nine months in all.

“We’ve always been there for each other.”

Audrey said: “Patricia had her first operation at St James’s Hospital in Leeds 21 years ago but when that failed she went back on dialysis again, which was a tiring process.

“One day she came home with leaflets about kidney transplants and becoming a donor and it went from there.

“There were a lot of tests to go through which took months but the operations themselves were fairly routine.

“I went down at 8.30am in the morning and Patricia went into theatre at lunchtime, and everything went well.

“Now we’re both recovering and hopefully we’ll be fine.

“If it gives Patricia a better life then it’s the least I could do.”

Doctors always recommend transplants from living donors as the success rate is significantly better.

Living donors who are close relatives can be an excellent tissue-type match for the recipient.

Unrelated donors, such as spouses, are unlikely to be well matched to the recipient.

Living kidney donation in the UK is increasing.

But the number of people needing kidney transplants continues to increase.

There are not enough kidneys from donors who have died available for transplant and the average waiting time for a kidney transplant is two and a half to three years.

If you’ve not signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register, you can do so by calling the NHS Organ Donor Line: 0845 60 60 400.

Lines are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.