IT IS the ultimate gift – and he is only too happy to give it.

Bob Potter is today preparing to donate his kidney to his 11-yearold daughter, giving her the best possible chance of life and, more importantly for Emily, the chance to eat chips and chocolate.

Little Emily Potter, from Portchester, has already undergone 18 operations in the last two years, including two open-heart surgeries, but this one could change her life for ever.

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To the shock of her parents Bob and Pauline, Emily was diagnosed with dense deposit disease in 2007, a condition which turns the kidneys to “stone”.

She had to have both kidneys removed and has been on dialysis ever since.

But to the joy of her parents, both were a match for Emily and today dad Bob will go under the knife for the three-hour transplant operation at Southampton General Hospital to give his daughter one of his kidneys.

“We are all ecstatic and cannot wait to get it over and done with,”

said the 38-year-old kitchen-fitter.

“It sounds strange but getting the chance to do this is like a Christmas present.

“Whenever a child is ill, every parent wishes they could do something, and we were lucky enough to be able to step in.

“Emily is absolutely over the moon about her new kidney because all she wants to do is be able to eat all the things she has had to cut back on in the past, like chips and chocolate.

“She keeps making sure that I’m okay about having the operation because, where she has had 18 in the last two years, she is the expert and more worried for me.

“I don’t look upon her as being unhealthy because she is always so energetic and active, and never lets it get her down. She is perfect to us.

“The message we want to send out is for people to get on the transplant list and donate blood because unless you have been through what we have, you have no idea how important that is.”

And with Emily about to face her 19th operation, the energetic gymnast is more worried about her dad than herself.

She said: “I am lucky enough to get a kidney – some kids don’t even get the chance. I’m not feeling nervous because I have been through so many operations now.”