WHEN doctors told Linda Joel she would die without a kidney donor her five children all immediately stepped up.

But husband Gary said it was his responsibility and put himself forward for the operation.

Diabetic Mrs Joel, from Tower Close, Abingdon, was told she needed the procedure after her heart stopped and she had to be resuscitated during an angina operation in July.

The dye used during the operation upset the 56-year-old former singer’s kidneys and it was discovered that one had not worked for a year.

When doctors at the Churchill Hospital, in Oxford, told Mrs Joel a donor had to be found her five children, including a son who has a hole in his heart, all offered to donate – but husband Gary pledged that it would be him.

Mrs Joel, who undergoes dialysis for diabetes three times a week, said: “When I was told I would die without a kidney I cried.

“The kids just said it would not happen and any one of them would be a donor.

“That’s when you know how much your family love you.

“My family are very important to me, my mum and dad died when I was 19 and they’re all I have.”

Painter and decorator Mr Joel, 45, said it was not a difficult decision. He said: “I just said it’s my responsibility and I have to get on with it.

“All the kids are young with children and they may need to be a donor for them one day.”

He added: “I was bowled over when they volunteered, they came up trumps.

“The doctors said Linda would be on a waiting list otherwise and we all knew there wouldn’t need to be a waiting list if we stepped up.”

Mrs Joel’s daughter, Kelly Smith, 31, of Saxton Road, Abingdon, said: “I’ve seen my mum go through so much and the last few months she’s been really poorly. I’ve got five kids and want her to be there for them in 10 years. Gary has been amazing for volunteering.”

Son Daniel, 28, said: “We didn’t even think twice. There are a lot of people who would put themselves forward.”

Mr Joel will undergo tests in January to see if his kidney is compatible with a 70 per cent chance it would be.

The case echoes that of mother-of-two Katrina Thornton, from Wootton, near Abingdon, who received a kidney from her sister in April – the second time a family member had donated an organ. The Oxford Mail sales representative had the blood disorder nephritis.

The condition was controlled with medication until she was 18, but she then had to start dialysis and was told she desperately needed a transplant.