AFTER a two-and-a-half year wait for a kidney transplant Ray Taylor wasn’t expecting three to turn up at once.

The 66-year-old, a long-term type one diabetes sufferer, found out the life-changing operation would finally be going ahead while celebrating his birthday last month.

And he was not alone as two other patients at Poole Dialysis Centre, where he received treatment, came up for transplants within two days of his own operation after long waits.

He said: “You have to wait a long time for them to find a suitable donor, so for three to be available at once is quite unusual.

“I’ve had diabetes for 64 years, and I had to start dialysis a few years ago, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It took about four hours and of course I couldn’t miss any of the treatments.

“We were out at a restaurant for my birthday when I got the call from Bristol Hospital.

“I couldn’t believe it at first and I was a bit shaken so I passed the phone to my wife and she took it all in. From there it was a bit of a rush to get home and pack my pyjamas.

“While I was up there I had a chat with two guys, Matt and Sam, who were both from my unit in Poole and had come up for transplants at the same time, it was incredible.”

Mr Taylor, who lives in Wallisdown with his wife Janet, said the transplant was going well and had changed his life for the better. “This will give me a new lease of life, I can look after my wife better, and we can go on holiday together again,” he said.

Mrs Taylor said: “Ray’s diabetes has got slowly worse over the years and this will change his life.

“The reason these three were waiting for so long is because of the shortage of donors, so we would like to encourage people to sign up to become donors.”

A Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “We are delighted to hear that Mr Taylor’s treatment went so successfully and wish him all the best for the future.”

To sign up for the NHS Organ Donor Register please call 0300 123 23 23.