SPORT teacher Emma Rimmer, is preparing for the final few steps on the road to donating a kidney to her brother, Matthew.

The 27-year-old Harper Green School teacher will go into Hope Hospital in Salford on Tuesday for a final round of health and fitness tests.

Doctors have to be sure Emma is physically fit enough for the surgery, which she hopes will give her brother a new lease of life.

Emma said: "I am very nervous and as this draws closer Im starting to get scared, but I do want it sorted for both mine and Matthew's sake.

"I decided to do this a year ago and it just seems to have dragged on and on.

"It's all I have been able to think about 24-7 and now I want it over with, especially because it means Matthew can start living his life again."

Matthew, now aged 24, was just 18 when his kidneys first failed as a result of Alport's syndrome.

He was given a transplant, but his new kidney failed in October and since then Matthew has had to endure three gruelling four-hour dialysis sessions every week.

Matthew was placed back on the waiting list for a second new kidney, but brave Emma decided she would donate one of her own healthy organs.

She underwent tests to make sure she was compatible and has just received results that show she does not suffer from the same condition as her brother.

Emma now has to undergo a week of blood and fitness tests, a kidney function examination and health checks to ensure she is up to the surgery.

Following the operation Emma will need at least four months to recover - although it could be as long as six - while Matthew will be back on his feet within days.

Her body will have to adapt, while Matthew should start to improve almost immediately.

In Bolton there are 48 people on the waiting list for a transplant: 42 require a kidney; one a pancreas; one a heart; one needs two lungs; one needs a heart and lungs and one a liver.

The Bolton Evening News launched a Gift of Life campaign to get more people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.

So far almost 200 people have signed up to the register as a direct result of our campaign.