A Shropshire couple were said today to be recovering well in hospital after undergoing a kidney transplant operation.

Oriel Anderson, of Coalport, beat odds of about a million-to-one to be a perfect match for her husband Ian.

Yesterday she donated one of her kidneys to Ian, whose kidneys failed after being diagnosed with a rare illness.

Mr Anderson, 52, has spent the last 18 months receiving dialysis treatment but he can now finally start to look forward to his life getting back to normal.

Doctors have said that the father-of-five will need about three months to recover from the transplant operation, which took place at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

He has begun taking anti-rejection drugs to help his body to accept the new kidney.

Elizabeth Anderson, Ian’s mother, 80, said: “I rang the ward at about 12.30pm yesterday and they had both come through successfully.

“I rang again about 6pm and the sister said they were doing well. I’m hoping to go to the hospital tonight to visit them.

“I think Oriel’s absolutely magnificent to do this but I was worried about both of them.”

The chances of Oriel, 42, being a perfect match for her husband were thought to have been about one in a million, because she was not a blood relative.

Mr Anderson first fell ill following Valentine’s Day celebrations in 2006. He was originally diagnosed with arthritis before finally doctors told him that he had renal failure.