But Ron, a diabetic who suffered renal failure, was unsuccessful in finding a compatible donor from his family and turned to Lesley for help.

Lesley and her husband Richard have been close friends with former Sevenhill Hotel publicans Ron and Louise Wilkins for many years.

“Ron needed a kidney, and I discussed it with my husband and the kids and then rang the renal nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital – and it went on from there,” Lesley said.

“I was a nurse years ago, and I thought, ‘I am healthy and I only need one kidney’.”

A long series of tests and interviews followed until the donation was given the okay.

“They give you options all along the way and make sure you are feeling comfortable with it.”

The surgery went ahead on July 18, 2003. “For me, it was about the same thing as having your appendix out – it was done by keyhole surgery.”

Lesley stayed at the QEH for a week before coming home and hasn’t had to make any adjustments or changes to her habits: “I just live a normal life”.

She said there had been no problems for her following the surgery and her local doctor had been very supportive. She was a bit sore for a few days after the operation, but was feeling fine after about a fortnight.

Lesley’s kidney saved her friend Ron’s life. Ron had been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and began having problems with his kidney function. At the same time he required surgery on one of his feet as a result of complications from the disease, and although it became obvious he desperately needed a transplant, the slow recovery from his foot surgery made it impossible at the time.

Ron was put on dialysis to cope with his renal failure and his quality of life plummeted. He stayed in Adelaide for four months following surgery, where part of his left foot was amputated, after which he came home to Sevenhill. Ron then travelled to Adelaide twice a week for the next 12 months for dialysis.

“They got a dialysis machine in Clare a week after my kidney transplant,” he said.

“Lesley had offered her kidney over a glass of red some time before, if all else failed,” Ron’s wife Louise said.

Compatible donors were sought amongst Ron’s family, including from his twin, but they were unsuitable.

“So I phoned Lesley and said, ‘are you still prepared to go ahead with it’ and she straight away said yes – and without her kidney I wouldn’t be alive.”

It took Ron some time to recover to his current state of good health, but he says he gets better every day. A lifelong regime of medication is required for transplant recipients, and regular medical check ups, but he is now back to living a normal lifestyle.

“To me you get two or three great things in your life that you love – you get your great husband, great kids and grandchildren and you get your great friends. And you support the people you love,” Lesley said.

Living donors were acknowledged and applauded at a ceremony at Flinders University on Sunday, July 13, when Lesley received a Living Donor Star Pin from the Governor of South Australia

More than 1350 Australians are on a waiting list for kidneys.