It’s been 50 years since the world’s longest surviving kidney transplant patient had his operation.
Harry Turner, now 70, has smashed life expectancy rates after he was predicted to only live a further 16 years.
He had received a kidney from older brother Victor in 1969.
Sadly Victor passed away when he was just 39 from a heart attack but Harry said he would always be grateful to his sibling.
Harry said: ‘I was 20 when I had my transplant.
‘My two kidneys had packed up and were diseased. My weight had gone up to almost 20 stone because I was full of fluid.
‘My brother, Victor, kindly gave me his kidney and it has worked ever since..
Grandfather-of-three Harry, who worked in construction until I was 58, said the transplant allowed him to live a full life.
He still has to go for check-ups but is doing well.
Harry has been honoured with an NHS award after surviving for so long and he took the opportunity to thank Preston Hospital for his treatment.
He added: ‘I’m so lucky to have reached 50 years with my transplant, you can only hope that it would last so long.
Staff at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust organised a special event to celebrate the milestone at the hospital.
At the event the team presented Harry with a plaque created by fellow transplant patient Robin Sharples and his friend Jim Cooper.
Mark Brady, clinical director for renal medicine at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: ‘We cannot find any record of an older transplanted kidney worldwide.