A GWENT man said being the first person in Wales to undergo a kidney transplant from a donor from a different blood group has given him his life back.

Nicholas Kenvin received the kidney from his father Lyndon and said the transplant gave him a "second chance."

Mr Kenvin, 28, went to his GP in November 2006 feeling constantly tired. He was referred to a hospital and diagnosed with Alport's syndrome, a condition that causes kidney failure.

His parents were both screened as potential live donors, and doctors tested the level of antibodies in each to see who would be the least likely to donate a kidney which would be rejected.

Mr Kenvin's father proved to be more compatible on that front.

However, Mr Kenvin's blood group is O and his father is group A, so initially he wasn't considered as a donor.

But due to medical advances, transplants can now be carried out even when donors do not have the same blood group.

Prior to last month's transplant, both Mr Kenvin and his father had to undergo a year of tests.

Mr Kenvin is the first person in his family to suffer from the condition and the operation at the University of Wales Hospital, Cardiff, involved attaching his father's kidney to an artery is his leg, and Mr Kenvin said he felt the results straight after the operation.

He said: "I've been brilliant, the difference to me was amazing, when I came out of hospital I was walking around like brand new. I felt a thousand times better than being on dialysis."

He added: "It's given me my life back, before the operation I was a slave to dialysis, my body was controlling what I did, now I can enjoy life to the full."

Mr Kenvin, of Springfield Court, Pontllanfraith, had been on dialysis for a year while on the transplant waiting list before his father was chosen.

He said dialysis, which he did at home four times a day, seven days a week, took over his life and meant he had to give up his job as an exhibition organiser in Rogerstone.

He was also constantly tired, slept for 15 hours a day and said his social life was almost non-existent.

"I used to have a really thriving social life, I used to go out four times a week, when I was on dialysis, I was lucky if I went out once a fortnight. That was my life, dialysis controls your life once you're on it," he said.

While awaiting his transplant, Mr Kenvin said he spoke to people who were waiting more than five years for a donor.

"That would have destroyed me, I would have missed out on the best years of my life," he said.

The pair are both doing well after the operation, and Mr Kenvin said his was thankful for what his dad did: "Words can't describe it, he gave me a second chance."

Following the operation on May 6, Mr Kenvin has been off dialysis for a month and said he has got his energy back and is looking forward to returning to work.

Dad's joy at giving the gift of life Lyndon Kenvin said he was "absolutely gutted" when the blood test showed he wasn't a match, so wasn't initially considered as a donor, but added that when he found out about the advances that would allow him to be a donor "it was brilliant."

Now the pair are both back at home following the operation, Lyndon Kenvin said: "To actually have him out in the garden with me now is brilliant, words can't describe it."