Was it bad news? Or a wrong number?

No, it was the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle telling her a kidney had just become available and she would have to come straight away.

“I just didn’t expect it because you normally have to wait around seven to 10 years,” Ms Davies said.

“I think it was a gift from God because it’s so unusual.”

Ms Davies, who had chronic renal failure, had tried all possible avenues to get a new kidney.

This included relatives and a local woman who offered to donate a kidney after reading about Ms Davies’ battle.

A woman from Crescent Head contacted Ms Davies after an article appeared in The Macleay Argus explaining her battle to find a kidney.

“I was amazed and blown away. She didn’t know me from a bar of soap,” Ms Davies said.

However, the possible donors were not suitable matches to her blood type.

“I gave up for a while because there is nothing you can do, so I just waited,” Ms Davies said.

Tracie had only been on the waiting list for about two years when she received the good news.

“I was actually the third choice for the kidney but the other two recipients must have been sick,” Ms Davies said.

Doctors at John Hunter Hospital operated for six hours on the kidney transplant that afternoon.

After six weeks in hospital Ms Davies returned home.

“The garden is a mess, I’ve got five new kittens and I’ve just been healing,” Ms Davies said.

Since returning home Ms Davies has had a few complications but her healthy body has not rejected the kidney.

One thing she won’t be missing is travelling to Port Macquarie three times a week to access a dialysis machine. There she underwent five hours of dialysis each day.

“I would just like to thank my family and the doctors at John Hunter for their wonderful support,” Ms Davies said.