A HEALTHY father-of-three who donated a kidney to a complete stranger hopes his decision inspires others to give ‘the gift of life’.

Steven Norrie, 36, from Altham West, Accrington, is now back at home recovering from major surgery to remove the organ - despite knowing he will never be told who the recipient is.

Steven, who is dad to Caleb, 6, Laughlin, 10, and Maisie, 12, decided to make an 'altruistic donation' after reading about the unusual practice in a national newspaper.

Last year in the UK, just 40 people made an organ donation to someone who was not a family member or friend.

He said: “The operation was meant to be open surgery.

But I ended up having keyhole surgery, and it lasted about six hours.

“The pain wasn't too bad, the thing that caught me off guard was I was so exhausted.

“But the care I received was absolutely faultless.”

Following the operation Steven had a high temperature and was put on antibiotics.

But he said he enjoyed his time in hospital because it helped him appreciate the significance of what he had done.

The operations controller for First Rail Support in Simonstone said: “It gave me a chance to spend some time with some nice people in the ward.

“I was the only donor but there were quite a few guys who had received organs.

So they were very kind and generous in what they said to me. It gave me more of an insight into just how grateful they were.

“There was a guy in the bed next to me who had been waiting seven years for a kidney.

“I didn't realise what a big inconvenience dialysis is and that is a long time to have your life on hold.

“Another guy waited eight years for a kidney and pancreas.

“A guy on life support who gave them his organs had changed the lives of two people.

“It made it all seem real to me.”

Steven said he was confident he had made the 'right' decision.

And hoped he had raised awareness of organ donation, even if other people did not take such a 'radical' step as him.

He said: “I was questioning myself about my motives when the operation was approaching.

“I realised if one of my children needed a transplant and I wasn't a match, I would be stopping people in the street, doing anything I could to get a match for them.

“I would like to think that if even if nobody does the sort of altruistic donation that I did, it could make people more mindful of the NHS Organ Donor Register and more likely to sign up for that.

"That would be very comforting."