Radio 4 newsreader gives a kidney to her new husband

A BBC newsreader will have an operation in the new year to donate a kidney to her new husband.

Carolyn Brown, a Radio 4 journalist, was praised by her husband, Bruce Connell, for “putting her life on the line”.

Mr Connell said his kidneys were in “slow decline” since a stroke eight years ago and if he could not find a donor he would need regular dialysis.

Mrs Brown, 57, said: “We’ve only been married 18 months. I thought he was marrying me because of my cosy little cottage in the country, it turns out he was after my spare parts.”

The couple met six years ago and married months before Mr Connell realised he needed the transplant. Mrs Brown told Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour: “I’m not underestimating it, but the recovery period is very short.”