The story of Nizarali Kanji illustrates how desperate patients with kidney failure can become.

Living in Oxford, he was on dialysis and very ill, had been on the waiting list for two years and knew there was little chance of finding a suitable match for a transplant.

So he travelled to Pakistan and paid a stranger £7,000 for a kidney.

Now after a successful operation, he is back in Oxford, looking forward to a brighter future.

One cannot blame Mr Kanji for spending his money to give himself a new lease of life.

But many people will feel it is wrong for rich people to take advantage of the poor in this way.

Selling human organs is illegal in the UK - and we hope that law will remain in place.

We should continue to support campaigns - like the one being currently backed by the Oxford Mail - to encourage more people to sign the Organ Donor Register.

Patients tempted to go abroad should heed the warning of Dr Christopher Winearls, clinical director of the Oxford Kidney Unit: "Some come back very ill and we have had a difficult time rescuing them from life-threatening complications."