A COUPLE were said to be "doing very well" in hospital last night after the wife donated a kidney to her sick husband.David and Caroline Day, of Colchester, are recovering in Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge following the operation on Tuesday.

A COUPLE were said to be "doing very well" in hospital last night after the wife donated a kidney to her sick husband.

David and Caroline Day, of Colchester, are recovering in Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge following the operation on Tuesday.

Mrs Day, 47, was found to be a perfect match for her husband who suffers from polycystic kidney disease and needed dialysis four times a day.

Now the couple will be hoping to enjoy a more normal life after the operation which was originally scheduled for Valentine's Day.

Mr and Mrs Day were operated on in adjacent theatres by a team of surgeons.

Their daughter Charlotte, 20, and her brother Robert, 22, endured a nervous wait by the phone throughout Tuesday for news of their parents.

Miss Day said it had been the longest day of her life and it was evening before she knew that her parents' operations had been a success.

She visited them yesterday as they began their recovery.

"They are both doing well," said Miss Day.

"Mum is a bit more groggy but dad is doing really, really well. He is quite chirpy. He has gone back to his cheeky little self."

Miss Day added: "I don't think mum looks as well as dad is looking but that is because he was ill in the first place and she has made herself ill by giving a kidney away.

"It has only been 24 hours though. It will get better with time."

Mr and Mrs Day were reunited yesterday morning when Tesco worker Mrs Day was able to go and see her husband in a wheelchair.

They will be released from hospital on Monday or Tuesday and will need a couple of months to recuperate.

Miss Day, who works at Woolworths in Colchester, is taking three weeks' leave from work to help care for her parents once they are home.

Christopher Watson