British surgeons have carried out what is believed to be the world's fastest liver transplant after completing the barrage of tests and the operations within three days of finding a match.
Liver donors have to be a compatible blood group and have organs that are a similar shape and size
Billy Sewell, 24, was on the verge of death when a childhood friend stepped forward to offer himself as a donor.
Luke Gumble was found to be a better match than family members and immediately agreed to donate 60 per cent of his liver.
Doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in London completed physical and psychological tests which would normally take weeks to plan within days.
The men subsequently underwent simultaneous operations in adjacent theatres, to ensure the the donor liver portion was removed from Mr Gumble at just the right time for it to be placed in Mr Sewell.
The donor was operated on for seven hours and the recipient for nine.
Professor Max Malago, who led the joint operation, said a live donor was "the only hope" for Mr Sewell.
He said: "I can't recall a live case where we've operated so quickly.
"This was a patient needing a live transplant so urgently that we had no more than a couple of days to go through loads of tests and paper work.
"Even though there was extreme urgency everything had to be done by the book."
He added: "We think this is the first time that a live liver transplant has taken place so quickly between two adults."
To complicate matters, it all happened over a weekend, when hospitals tend to have fewer staff.
He said: "It was an unusual situation and we had to respond by working very quickly. It was a fantastic team effort.
"Somehow we managed to get it all done between a Friday night and a Monday morning.
"All the time we were conscious that with every hour that passed we might lose Billy.
"He was that ill he could have gone at any time."
Mr Sewell, from Stevenage, Herts, was diagnosed with liver failure just before Christmas. Doctors do not know why it struck down the otherwise fit and healthy roofer.
On January 23 he was admitted to hospital and his condition went rapidly downhill. Enquiries with NHS Blood and Transplant failed to find a suitable organ from a dead donor.
Mr Sewell said: "I became very ill over the period of just a few days. In the end I was hanging on to life with my liver completely shot through."
Several family members, his girlfriend and Mr Gumble volunteered themselves as potential donors.
Liver donors have to be a compatible blood group and have organs that are a similar shape and size.
Mr Sewell's sister Kizzie-Beth, 26, was the right blood group and size, but was rejected on liver shape. However, Mr Gumble was found to be an ideal match.
The donor, 24, a tiler, also from Stevenage, said: "Billy's sister was the nearest after me but she didn't quite match up. So it was down to me. I had made my mind up anyway but there wasn't much time to think about it."
He added: "We really are like brothers. A lot of blokes don't have close friendships in the same way as girls, but we do. We are very close friends.
"I would do anything for Billy but I never thought I'd be the only match for a transplant ahead of his family. It was a shock when they told me."
The liver is the only major organ able to regenerate so comprehensively and, three-and-a-half months on, both men have made good recoveries. Mr Gumble has returned to work and Mr Sewell hopes to do so soon.
Mr Sewell said: "I will never forget what Luke has done. We are now even closer than ever. I was really on my way out.
"I discovered just how near I had been to death after I came round.
"The doctors said my old liver was virtually lifeless.
"I was running on empty when Luke came to my rescue. I had run out of time. He was my only hope."
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