A GRANDMOTHER from Orpington has become the first person in Britain to receive a transplant using a £1m robot.

Jean Hemple’s life was transformed when her brother, Lenny Deller, 65, tested the da Vinci robot operated by a surgeon from the other end of the room.

Media reports suggested a Rochester woman, Pauline Payne, was the first to have her kidney removed this way but the KM Group's Bromley Extra has revealed Mr Deller’s operation was two days earlier.

"I thought I was making history. It’s a shame because now no-one knows I was the first one," he said.

He knew his sister, who lives in Holywell Close, Orpington, had dreamt of a kidney transplant since beginning dialysis 18 months earlier.

Mrs Hemple, who has two children and four grandchildren, said: "I used to feel so sick because the treatment made me really ill. Sometimes I felt I couldn’t live my life like that but the transplant has transformed me."

She was so grateful she wrote her brother a special letter. She wrote: "What you did was a personal act of courage beyond anything most people would be called upon to do in their lifetime. I shall be eternally grateful and forever in your debt."

Husband John, 60, said the change in his 61-year-old wife, since the operation at Guy’s Hospital almost four months ago, was astounding.

"She couldn’t even manage the supermarket before, but now she is almost back to normal. She was just existing but now it feels like she is living again."

He hoped to donate his own kidney but was rejected because he has diabetes.

Staff at King’s College Hospital, who worked alongside Guy’s, helped the pair through six months preparation.

Mr Deller, from Hither Green, said: "I trusted the robot and the team because they were so professional. They made me feel completely calm."

The team, including surgeon Nizam Mamode and transplant co-ordinator Magnus Roseke were accompanied by a computer technician in case of breakdown.

The robot, which has two mechanical arms and a 3D camera, is thought to be more precise than a human.

Mr Deller’s kidney was cleaned and transplanted into his sister, who now has three kidneys, in the usual way.

KIDNEY FACTS

* An estimated 10,000 people in Britain suffer from kidney disease, excluding cystitis and kidney stones.

* 7,000 people die from renal failure every year because there is such a shortage of donors.

* You are statistically more likely to need a transplant than become a donor.

* The number of people needing transplants is expected to rise significantly in 10 years due to an ageing population, increasing kidney failure and scientific advances which mean more people are suitable for the operation.

* The Department of Health estimates treating people for kidney failure costs the NHS 1.1 per cent of its budget. That was about £750million in 2002-03.

* Each patient on dialysis costs the NHS about £35,000 a year.

* The number of living donor kidney transplants has doubled since 1997.