A former jockey who was one of the first to receive a live kidney transplant is to return to the hospital which saved him the 40th anniversary of his operation.

Twenty six year old Bob Hughes, was living with his mum in Norbiton Hall, London Road, in 1974 and working in a betting shop when he collapsed.

His brother John, a carpenter working in Chichester, went under the knife at St Thomas Hospital on January 18, 1974, covered by the Surrey Comet and other national newspapers.

Now 64 and living near Darlington, Bob said: “They tried to persuade my brother not to do it. They said it was too dangerous. He has only been married six months. His wife wasn't too happy about it. He never had second thoughts or doubts.

“Blood is thicker than water. That was one of the headlines.

Surrey Comet:

Bob and his brother John pictured in the Surrey Comet before the operation

“I just thought it was fantastic. He was on one trolley and I was on another. We passed each other on the operating theatres.

“They cut him from his left shoulder blade right down to his right hip. That's how big the scar was, diagonally right across his back.”

Bob was out of the hospital within five weeks with his brother’s kidney inside, back at the betting shop in Morden, but his brother was still in hospital for another four weeks after that.

He said: “We had a party and my dad Raymond gave my brother a gold medal in his pub the Rainbow in Chichester. He also gave me a bracelet and medallion.

“Being brought up in a pub I never drank beer. My brother was just a normal lad drinking with his friends. After the transplant the first drink I was given was half a pint of Guinness. After that I was able to drink and my brother stopped drinking. He always joked I had the alcoholic kidney.”

BROTHERLY LOVE

Bob’s brother died two years ago after contracting leukemia from asbestosis in June 2011. His wife Christine, who he had met at Ladbrokes in Chessington and married in September 1975 died of bile duct cancer three months later.

Surrey Comet:

Bob and his wife Christine with brother John at their wedding in September 1975 marked in the Surrey Comet

Bob said: “2011 was a horrible hard year for me. I went down to John, living in Lincoln at the time. He was cheerful and looked OK, miserable but cheerful enough, and said ‘I'm stopping the treatment I can't do it anymore’. “He’d done all he could do but he could not go on, living the terrible life in the hospital, tubes in him and god knows what.

“It was a hell of at thing for him to go through. I look at his photograph now and I’m welling up a bit. I've still got a part of him in me.”

REVISITING ST THOMAS

Surrey Comet:

Bob Hughes, right, at the Sunderland renal unit on the 25th anniversary of his transplant with other transplant recipients.

Bob hopes to return to St Thomas Hospital to meet anyone who remembers him, in memory of his brother.

He said: “I'd like to cut a cake, maybe meet some of the nurses there at the time. They were fairly young, maybe they're still alive. There was a young consultant that was associated with Bert Thompson - he was the consultant surgeon who did the transplant operation. He has passed away I should think.

“One ‘houseman’ [doctor] said we ought to put a zip in you, the amount of times we've had to stitch you up. “It would be amazing to meet someone like that.

“I'd just say ‘look at me, 40 years later. I bet you never thought that would happen’. “It was very dangerous and as it turned out my brother and myself proved them wrong. “I remember one of the barrier nurses, nobody could come in without the gown, mask and gloves. All I could see her eyes but she gave me such treatment in intensive care unit. Even if I just saw one of you.

“It was thanks to everyone of you.”

Do you remember Bob? Call the newsdesk on 020 8744 4244 or email newsdesk@surreycomet.co.uk