A MAN who needed a kidney transplant owes his life to regular sex with his wife.

Gordon Goodchild was on the transplant list, but when an organ became available doctors realised he had a rogue antibody which meant his body would not accept a kidney from a dead donor.

His wife, Susan, was determined to help and wanted to donate one of her kidneys, but the couple, from Malton, North Yorkshire, were told they had a 14 million-to-one chance against them being a match.

But Susan, 40, turned out to be a perfect match, thanks to the couple's healthy sex life.

Mrs Goodchild said: "We couldn't believe it when it was a match. Apparently, if a couple have regular sex their antibodies can adapt to each other and they can become compatible. It was like winning the lottery."

Mrs Goodchild, a school supervisor, had 18 tests and a three-month wait to discover if she could save her 42-year-old husband's life.

The couple, who have a ten-year-old daughter, Laura, went into hospital in January for the transplant, which was a success, and Mr Goodchild is back at work as an engineer, and well on the way to recovery, six years after his kidneys began to fail.

Mrs Goodchild said: "We had always had a passionate relationship. We've never had any problems in that department until Gordon started getting ill, because he was so tired all the time.

"But we still can't get our heads around the fact that having sex saved his life."

Mr Goodchild said: "Obviously I'm grateful to Susan, because I literally owe her my life. If she hadn't done what she did I would be dead in a couple of years."