A Jehovah's Witness couple were recovering in hospital today after a unique bloodless kidney transplant.

Bradford mother-of-two Marie Hoyle decided to donate a life-saving kidney to her husband Alf, 51, after he had waited for a transplant for nine years.

The five-hour operation at St James's Hospital, Leeds, is considered unique because it was a bloodless transplant on two Jehovah's Witnesses who were unrelated by birth.

The procedure, carried out on Friday, has been hailed a success and Mr Hoyle was able to sit up in a chair by his wife's bedside yesterday. The couple may be well enough to leave hospital in a week. The couple, married 30 years with two children, decided to go ahead after Mr Hoyle had been on dialysis three times a week for nine years.

Mr Hoyle said: "I can't express what a loving thing, what a tremendous thing my wife has done in giving me a kidney."

A hospital spokesman said although bloodless operations were no longer unusual at St James's, the Hoyles' circumstances were unique.

"Three things have come together - it was a bloodless operation, it was a non-related donor between husband and wife, and the couple are Jehovah's Witnesses, so this was their only option.

"Mrs Hoyle decided because of the lack of donor organs and the deterioration in her husband's quality of life, to look at the possibility of being a donor herself after reading an article about it. She beat quite long odds to be a match for her husband. Ordinarily, live donors are related."

The bloodless surgery technique was pioneered in Leeds and around 100 such procedures have been carried out at the hospital.

The method involves giving the patient extra red blood cells before surgery, 'diluting' the blood during the operation, reducing the patient's blood pressure and using special surgical techniques and smaller incisions.

The unit expects to carry out around 30 'live' transplants this year.

Members of the Jehovah's Witness faith do not accept blood transfusions because of references in the Bible to 'abstaining from blood'.

Mr and Mrs Hoyle attend the Bowling congregation at the Kingdom Hall in Manchester Road, Bradford.

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