A YOUNG Selby woman waiting for a kidney transplant today appealed to local people to carry a donor card.

Twenty-year-old Rachel Nichols and her family were devastated when renal failure was diagnosed in both her kidneys in May last year.

Her brother, Shaun, 16, offered to donate one of his kidneys, but doctors said he was too young.

Rachel's mother, Wendy, 45, a Selby district councillor, was also ruled out because she is asthmatic, and her father, Keith, 51, was not a suitable match.

Rachel had to give up her job as a care worker and now has to undergo seven-and-a-half hours of dialysis every evening on a machine at her home, in Bainbridge Drive, Selby.

Today she teamed up with district council leader Mark Crane, to front Selby's campaign to encourage local people to sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register.

The council has joined forces with UK Transplant to promote the Vote For Life campaign.

Organ donor registration forms will be sent to every home in Selby district as part of the annual electoral return.

More than 5,600 people in the UK are waiting for a transplant that will save or transform their lives - but an acute shortage of donated organs means that every year almost 400 will die waiting for a transplant.

Rachel, a former Selby High School and Selby College student, who gained ten GCSEs and two A-levels, used to enjoy cross country running, hockey and netball.

Last April she started feeling tired and lethargic, but put it down to anaemia.

She said: "I didn't think it was anything serious, and it came as a terrible shock.

"Now I have to be careful about what I drink and eat. But the really frustrating thing is I can't just get up and go somewhere.

"I used to go to my friend's house at Camblesforth a lot, but now I can't go there without my dialysis machine.

"I have a donor card and all my family are now planning to get one. No one wants to think they are going to die, but wouldn't you rather let someone else live once you've gone?"

Rachel is now planning to go back to Selby College for another A-level, with the aim of becoming a teacher.

Mrs Nichols said: "It's been a dreadful year, but Rachel has been very philosophical about it. I'm very proud of the way she's coped."

Updated: 12:42 Friday, August 01, 2003