A Gwent Paralympic gold-medallist is recovering at home after a successful kidney transplant using an organ donated by his father two weeks ago.

Gareth Duke, 19, is now back home in Pontnewydd, Cwmbran, after being discharged from the University of Wales Hospital, Cardiff.

There had been fears that his body may have been rejecting his new kidney, after post-operative blood tests showed signs of an infection.

But his family say everything is now going well and the operation has been a success.

Gareth was placed on temporary dialysis at the beginning of this month after the performance of his kidneys deteriorated, and, as his father and organ donor Trevor Myers, 52, said, the transplant operation came just in the nick of time.

"The first couple of days after the transplant were hard," added Mr Myers, who was kept in for observation for four days.

"We both felt very sore but we're over that now, and we're all really pleased with his progress."

Gareth, a disabled swimmer, hit the headlines in 2004 by claiming a gold medal at the Athens Paralympics.

He is now on course to start training again as early as this summer, Mr Myers said, subject to medical advice.

Gareth is now taking ten tablets a day to stop his body rejecting the new organ.

"He's getting better every day," said Mr Myers. "Gareth has a bit of pain now and again but he's been resting and improving a lot since the operation."

In August, the Argus exclusively revealed Gareth needed an urgent transplant because his kidneys were failing due to the Alport's syndrome he suffers from due to his dwarfism.

Dozens of regulars at the family's local pub, the Yew Tree Inn in Pontnewydd, offered to undergo compatibility tests to help before doctors found his father was a suitable donor.