Tracy Barrett will be getting a special gift from her husband Chris this Valentine’s Day – one of his kidneys and, ultimately, her life back.

On Saturday, it will be 11 years since the couple met. But this year they will be at the Churchill Hospital in Headington, Oxford, for a pioneering keyhole transplant operation that, if successful, will end Mrs Barrett’s need for daily dialysis sessions.

The couple, from Marcham, have been coping with Mrs Barrett’s polycystic kidney disease.

Her nightly dialysis has been part of their routine for 18 months.

Last night, as she prepared for the operation, Mrs Barrett said: “He could have got me flowers or bought me chocolates for Valentine’s Day, but he’s giving me my life back.

“With the transplant, it’ll mean getting my energy back.

“When you’re on dialysis it’s the tiredness and not having that drive that gets to you.”

Mr Barrett, 39, said: “I have known about Tracy’s condition from the start of our relationship, but there have been a few recent complications.

“Last year we thought I should see if I’m a compatible donor, which I was. It just so happens that the operation coincides with Valentine’s Day and we met on February 13.”

The operation to remove one of Mr Barrett’s kidneys is the culmination of months of tests.

He said: “She’s been through a lot, especially recently, and has been on the transplant waiting list for more than two years.

“To see Tracy fit will be the best feeling in the world.

Mrs Barrett, 42, said: “Chris said all along, since he’d known about my kidney problems, he wanted to be a donor.

“With any kind of surgery there are nerves, are you going to wake up? Are you going to have complications? I just want to know my husband’s ok. As long as I’ve still got him at the end.”

While she has been on dialysis, Mrs Barrett has been able to continue work and travel abroad for their honeymoon in Italy.

Mrs Barrett, who works as a care assistant with the Malthouse District Nurses in Abingdon, and Mr Barrett, a business consultant for Natwest in Oxfordshire, said they could not have taken this step without the support they had received.

Mr Barret said: “We’ve got really supportive family and friends, and both our employers have been brilliant — I can’t thank them enough.

“The surgeons and nurses at the Churchill have also put our minds at rest. They’ve explained everything to us.”

He added: “This operation will mean we can get away more and have holidays without worrying about things.

“It will give us our freedom again.”

The Oxford Mail is encouraging readers to become organ donors. More than 9,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant that could save or vastly improve their life. Most are waiting for a kidney, others for a heart, lung or liver transplant. To sign the NHS Organ Donor Register, go to uktransplant.org.uk or call 0845 606 0400. tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk