A MOTHER-OF-ONE has become Oxford’s first ‘altruistic’ kidney donor by giving the organ to someone she does not know.

The procedure – where the living donate an organ or tissue to a non-relative – has only been legal in Britain for three years.

Di Franks has just recovered after the first transplant of this kind carried out at the Churchill Hospital in Headington and last night she said: “It is the biggest gift you can ever give, and the best thing I have ever done.”

For legal reasons the Oxford Mail cannot reveal who Mrs Franks donated to, but they are believed to live in Oxfordshire.

Mrs Franks said she was inspired by a friend in America who donated a kidney to someone anonymously.

“Even thinking about it now, I get quite tearful,” she said. “I can’t describe the feeling I have from being able to give someone their life back, and to return a whole person to their family.

“After I had the operation, the person I donated my kidney to wrote me a letter.

“I will never know who it is, but to read the words ‘Dear Donor... thank you so much’, well, it’s just indescribable.”

To date only 16 people have signed up and undergone the procedure in Britain.

Professor Peter Friend, director of the Oxford Transplant Centre, said the giving of an organ without knowing who it was going to was the “ultimate act of generosity”.

He said: “It’s quite a big operation to remove a kidney which, as long as the donor is healthy, comes with a very small risk, but a risk nonetheless.

“Many people have heard of people donating to a loved one or a family member.

“But this is the ultimate act of kindness and generosity. It is true altruism.

“Giving but not expecting anything back. Stories such as Mrs Franks are the life blood of organ donation.”

In 2008, the Oxford Mail launched a campaign to encourage people around the county to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.

At the time, just 177,531 Oxfordshire people were registered to become an organ donor after they died.

But since the campaign launched, the figure has leapt to 204,431.

Mrs Franks, who lives in Lambourn, west Berkshire, said signing up to become an altruistic donor was the best thing she has ever done.

She said: “ I would like to thank everyone at the Living Donor Programme at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford.

“They’re truly amazing and wonderful people. It has been an honour and privilege to have got to know them and to have been part of the team that enabled this donation to successfully go ahead.

“I have nothing but praise for everyone there.”