It was good to read that kidney transplant patient Jackie Evans has got her life back (Kidney transplant patient looking forward to the new year, The Press, January 3). I offer her my sincere congratulations.

I know how she must be feeling as I too have been on dialysis for five years due to the condition, glomerularnephritis. I met Jackie twice while having holiday dialysis in my home city of York.

On January 1, I received a 5am call from the Klinikum Aachen, here in Germany, with the offer of a kidney transplant, which I undertook with success. What a wonderful start to the new year!

I too had an offer from a live donor, my daughter. God in his wisdom changed the plan, with a kidney from an unknown donor, from a most thoughtful family following bereavement. I will never know who, but my gratitude will be eternal.

I am a York man who has worked in my adopted country, Germany, for the past 26 years as a specialist trained nurse, having trained in York at the old County and City hospitals and also at St James's Hospital, Leeds, as a nurse tutor.

Now I can enjoy my retirement in improved health without being tied to three-times-weekly dialysis and all its restrictions and side-effects.

I also received support from my family who live in and around York and I thank them for their years of understanding, thoughtfulness and help.

There are thousands (I believe around 50,000 in Europe) awaiting a kidney transplant. You can help give them a chance of a normal life. Be a donor-card carrier. Tell your family, so that they can respect your wishes in case of bereavement. The system is safe, thorough and strictly confidential.

M Rogan, RWTH, Aachen, Germany.