A man has been given a new lease of life thanks to a gift from his father.

When Craig Vickers, 32, had to go on to dialysis after being diagnosed with a suspected industrial disease, his father, Peter, 55, immediately volunteered to donate one of his kidneys.

Now, four weeks after the operation, Craig is returning to a normal life.

Two years ago, Craig, from Staindrop, County Durham, a stonemason, was diagnosed with microscopic polyarteritis, a disease which damages the immune system.

The disease led to the failure of his kidneys and Craig had to have dialysis three times a week.

"It was very difficult to do anything when I was on dialysis," said Craig. "You can only drink one litre of water a day and have to be careful what you eat.

"You constantly felt tired and have a raging thirst.You can't even go on holiday as you have go to hospital for your dialysis.

"Now that I've had the operation, things are getting back to normal.

"I can eat and drink what I want and have more energy and can play football with my son, Jack."

Peter, from Evenwood, an assistant press operator at C&A roofing, underwent keyhole surgery to remove one of his kidneys.

He said: "The first thought that crossed my mind when I heard the bad news was, 'he can have one of mine if it's all right.'

"I was only in hospital two days. The worse thing was waiting for all the tests to see if it was suitable.

"Anyone of those could have come back negative and we were back to square one. These next three months will be critical but, hopefully, everything seems to be okay now."

Shortly after Peter was diagnosed, his wife, Michelle, discovered she was pregnant with their son, Jack, now 14 months old.

"It was a very hectic time," she said. "But Dr John Main and the staff at South Cleveland Hospital were fantastic. It's opened all our eyes. Before this none of the family had a donor card, but now we all carry one."