THE Mayor and Mayoress of Kendal are back home and recovering well after kidney transplant surgery earlier this month.

Cllrs Chris and Rachael Hogg were reunited on Saturday after going under the knife at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle on February 3.

Chris volunteered to donate one of his kidneys to Rachael last year when her own started to fail – and remarkably turned out to be a match for her blood type - 0+.

It was Rachael’s second kidney transplant, having received a kidney from a stranger at the age of 21.

“I’m still quite tired and a bit sore but the kidney is functioning really well,” said Rachael.

“The doctors are amazed – it’s better than the first time round.

“I can feel a difference in myself as well. I’m not getting nauseous and sick all the time. I’m feeling a little bit better every day and I’m looking forward to being fully fit.”

Rachael spent just over a week in hospital following the transplant, which she described as ‘daunting’.

“Even though I’d been through it before I still felt overwhelmed when I was getting wheeled down for surgery, but I had excellent care and the staff really put me at ease.”

The pair have spent the past year campaigning for more people in Kendal to sign the organ donor register, and Rachael said her experience in hospital reinforced how many people are in need of transplants.

“There are some really ill people out there who have waited a long time for organs – a girl next to me had been on dialysis for six years and her kidney started to fail. I don’t think she would have seen Christmas if she hadn’t got the transplant.”

The couple, now back at home with teenage son Kain and dog Pip, said they had been ‘overwhelmed’ by the number of goodwill messages and cards they have received since the transplant.

Said Chris: “It’s really quite touching. We’re waiting to find out whether the donor town initiative has a future as a wider NHS scheme but the number of people who have signed up since we started campaigning is fantastic.

“Whatever happens, we will have saved lives by doing this, and you can’t say fairer than that.”