WHEN father-of-two Paul Jones turned 40 last year his father had already given him the perfect present - a new kidney.

In the month that Kidney Awareness Day is looking to raise the profile of the transplant programme, the delivery driver told how, aged 14, he was diagnosed with henoch-schonlein purpura, an autoimmune reaction in which the body attacks its own blood vessels.

His kidneys had been gradually failing ever since and Mr Jones, of Greymar Road, Little Hulton, had been warned that he was just weeks away from needing dialysis. That would have meant spending four hours a day, three days a week in hospital, when the transplant took place, on August 1 last year.

He said: "I can't explain or put it into words how grateful I am to my dad.

"It's meant so much to me that I can finally live a normal life after all these years."

Mr Jones' condition first came to light when he suffered a viral infection. A rash appeared on his legs and, by the time he was 18, the disease was affecting his kidneys.

Doctors at Hope Hospital monitored Mr Jones and his diet began to get more and more restricted.

In the months before his transplant he could not eat anything containing sodium, including bananas, potatoes or chocolate.

Last summer he was told that his kidneys were functioning at just 15 per cent of their capacity, that he was being placed on the transplant waiting list and within a few weeks away he was likely to need dialysis.

Following the surgery, at Manchester Royal Infirmary, his life has completely changed and he celebrated 40th birthday by taking his wife, Denise, for a slap-up meal.

Mr Jones, who spent eight days in hospital after the transplant, said: "Before the transplant I used to have problems with my legs, but that's all stopped now and I feel amazing."

His father, Tom Jones, aged 63, of Spa Lane, Little Hulton, who works at Parceline along with his son, says he has no regrets about donating one of his healthy kidneys to his son.

He said: "He's my son it's as simple as that. He needed help and I could provide it.

"It was so hard to watch him go through everything he did and not be able to do anything to help. It's fantastic to see the change in him.

"I hope that by telling our story we can do our bit to raise awareness of kidney disease."