Kidney donor mum: Woman becomes first person in UK to donate kidney to a stranger following Facebook appeal

Stacey Hewitt's parents posted the desperate request on social media after they were found not to be suitable donors

According to the NHS there have been 37 kidney donations by individuals to strangers in the UK so far this year (Getty)

A mother of two has donated one of her kidneys to a stranger after seeing an appeal on Facebook.

She is thought to be the first person in the UK to donate a kidney to a stranger following a social media appeal.

Louise Drewery saw the online plea for a donor for Stacey Hewitt, a 26-year-old a mother from Redcar who had chronic kidney disease that meant she would require lifelong dialysis, according to newspaper reports.

Ms Hewitt's parents were not suitable donors for their daughter and feared she would have to wait too long for a transplant, the reports said.

So Darren Hewitt, Stacey's father, posted an appeal on Facebook.

Ms Derwery was looking at Facebook with her husband when she saw the message and responded.

The Mirror and MailOnline quoted Ms Hewitt as saying: "People ask me if it's for family or a friend, but they're shocked when I say it's for a total stranger."

The operation was carried out successfully at the Institute of Transplantation at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

It is possible for a healthy person to live a normal life with only one kidney.

According to NHS statistics there were 37 altruistic kidney donations - that is kidneys donated by individuals to strangers - in the UK in the first eight months of this year.