A TRANSPLANT donor has been reunited in hospital with his close friend, to whom he donated his kidney.

Almost three weeks after the North-East's first friend-to-friend kidney transplant, donor Derek Marshall visited recipient Bill Brough to pass on his seasonal greetings.

It is not the first time since the seven-hour operation that Mr Marshall, 56, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, has been back to the Freeman Hospital transplant centre, in Newcastle, to see his friend from Great Ayton.

But this time, Mr Marshall invited The Northern Echo to record his visit.

Mr Brough, 54, who suffered kidney failure after being struck down by Legionnaires' disease after a business trip to Mexico, says he is making good progress.

"I am doing fine, it is great seeing Derek again," he said.

"I just hope what Derek has done will inspire others to do the same," he added.

Mr Brough has been able to walk around the ward and chat to friends and relatives over the phone since his gruelling operation.

Kim Russell, a transplant co-ordinator at the Freeman Hospital said: "Bill is up and about and everyone is pleased with the progress."

Mr Marshall jokingly describes the donation of one of his kidneys as "a shotgun marriage" between his tissue and Mr Brough's.

He said: "He has good days and bad days, but the important news is that the kidney is definitely working."

Apart from slight soreness when he stands, Mr Marshall feels almost back to normal.

Because the kidney was removed by keyhole surgery, his scar is relatively small.

"I am hoping that I will not need a dressing soon, it is amazing really," he said.

But he knows he will need to take it easy over the next few months.

"I have been advised that I should not even think about going back to work until March," says Mr Marshall, who works for Mr Brough's shipping company, OBC.

The two men have known each other since they were primary school children in Whinney Banks school, in Middlesbrough.

The pair are hoping the friend-to-friend transplant will encourage others to do the same.

More than 5,000 people are on the UK organ transplant waiting list.