Sisters from Bristol are celebrating an emotional anniversary on March 3 – the day one gave the gift of life to the other.

Jackie Allen had had enough of seeing her older sister Rachel suffering because of kidney disease.

It was on this day in 2006 that Jackie went to the operating table at Southmead Hospital and had her healthy left kidney removed, which was immediately transplanted into Rachel.

Three years on, both women are doing fine, both work at the same Bristol hotel and both are jubilant that Rachel's life has been transformed.

Rachel, 33, of Cranbourne Road, Patchway, a receptionist at Aztec Hotel and Spa in Aztec West Business Park, said: "We were close, but now we're even closer. Jackie is 100 per cent the best sister in the world."

The women's story began when Rachel was diagnosed with kidney disease at school.

She said: "I was 15 and just starting my exams at Patchway High School.

"I started to bleed through my urine. I went to the doctor's and then to Southmead Hospital for a scan. They said I had polysistic kidney disease, affecting both kidneys, and I was quite shocked. The doctors told me I would have to have a kidney transplant in my 40s."

Rachel said that as her life progressed she became more and more ill.

She said: "In my 20s, I would go yellow, I fell from nine stones to six stones in weight and I started kidney dialysis aged 25. I first did dialysis, four times a day, every four hours. Dialysis was making my kidneys function as they should, but I could only drink a litre of fluid a day and I had to avoid potassium and foods such as mushrooms, tomato, pizza and chips.

"I was sick almost every day, my feet swelled up and I was always falling asleep."

Despite her illness, Rachel tried to press on with as normal a life as possible – having dialysis on the beach, going swimming, nightclubbing and working full-time.

Watching all this was her younger sister Jackie, now 30, of Spruce Way, and there came a time when she'd had enough of seeing Rachel sick.

She said: "I got fed up with it. Rachel had said she didn't want anyone in the family as a donor because she was concerned about it, but I had a test at Southmead Hospital on the quiet and they said I was a perfect match.

"Our mother Lyn has kidney disease and they didn't know if I had the family gene. After my test we had to have five years of genetic testing to make sure everything was all right."

In July 2005, Rachel had her left kidney removed, which had swollen to the size of a small baby.

In March 2006, after all tests were done, Jackie's left kidney was transplanted into Rachel. Even though they are sisters, the chances of their transplant suitability was put at no more than 50:50.

Jackie, who has two daughters – Leah, eight, and Tannie, seven – said: "I thought hard about doing it. With any operation, things can go wrong. I had two children to think about and I made a will in case anything happened.

"The operation was uncomfortable, it was a major deal and lasted two hours for me and three hours for Rachel."

Thankfully the operation, carried out by Dr Paul Lear, was a complete success.

Rachel, who is now engaged to be married to Matt Saunders, 29, said: "It was the best present anyone could give anybody. I feel so much better. I can eat, drink and live normally. I have to take tablets, but I'd rather do that than dialysis. I see myself as pretty lucky.

"We celebrate the transplant every year with a family tea at home. It is rather an emotional time. As soon as Jackie finishes work, we will be glued at the hip."

Rachel has worked at the Aztec Hotel and Spa for the past 12 years and says they've been a "fantastic" employer, catering to her needs. Jackie has worked in the hotel's housekeeping department for two years.

The sisters are now putting their efforts into helping to raise £30,000 for the charity Kidney Research UK.

Hotel staff are planning on hosting a "restaurant takeover" on Sunday, March 8, which involves the front of house team at the restaurant swapping places with the chefs in the kitchen. On March 12 they are having a car wash, clothes sale and blood pressure facility to mark World Kidney Day. A sponsored leg wax and charity ball are also scheduled for later in the year.

Kidney Research UK was founded in 1961 and aims to focus on the prevention, treatment and management of kidney disease.