Octogenarian becomes Britain's oldest kidney donor

London: An 83-year-old British man who has donated blood 57 times has shown further altruistic concern by giving up a kidney to a stranger, making him the oldest Briton to do so, according to a kidney donation charity.

Nicholas Crace, a former charity director from the leafy English county of Hampshire, decided to donate a kidney to Britain's National Health Service following the death of his wife in 2011, when he found he had more time for voluntary work.

"I've had an easy, comfortable life... I thought it was about time I paid back some of my good fortune. I was fit, I had no dependents and plenty of time," Crace told Reuters.

Crace decided to donate a kidney because he was too old to give blood or bone marrow and was surprised to discover that not only was he the oldest living Briton to donate a kidney but also that he had the kidneys of a 40-year-old. "I think I probably chose my parents carefully," he joked.

Almost 7,000 people are waiting for a kidney and around 300 die each year waiting for one, according to Britain's Give A Kidney charity.