DOTING husband Alan Red is putting his life on the line by donating one of his kidneys to save his desperately ill wife.

In a million-to-one chance, Mr Red, 39, was found to be a match for his 46-year-old wife, Susan.

The operation, incredibly rare with married couples, will be carried out at the end of June.

Mrs Red suffers from Polycystic kidney disease, a condition which causes cysts to appear on her kidney's stopping them from functioning properly.

The mother-of-two is close to renal failure and had prayed her mother, Margaret, 60, would be a match.

But she was devastated when the doctors told her the organs were not compatible, but when Mr Red offered to be a donor the couple were amazed to find he was a match.

Blood relatives are the best matches and Mr Red was told that there is only a one in a million chance of a husband and wife being compatible.

He said: "I love her, my happiness depends on her happiness and I want to help. There is a risk, but I can't wait for the operation to go ahead."

Mrs Red has two children, Louise, 21, and Oliver, 20, who both have the disorder, but so far have had no health problems. The couple run an art gallery business, in Newcastle, and have been married for eight years.