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Jeremy Corbyn’s most powerful aide, Karie Murphy, secretly donated a kidney to save the life of a gravely ill young boy.

Murphy, the Labour leader’s chief of staff, volunteered to help a stranger in an incredible act of selflessness.

The former nurse said:“I’m healthy, I’m fit and I could do something to help. It was a personal choice, but I would love others to think of doing something similar.”

Murphy, 53, donated to an ailing young lad in North East England in December 2014.

(Image: DAILY MIRROR)

She has broken her three-year silence to urge MPs to back the Daily Mirror’s Change the Law for Life campaign.

She stressed: “I’m not seeking recognition.

"I intended to keep it private, but this is one-off public interview to use my position to encourage others to think about what they could do to save lives.”

(Image: DAILY MIRROR)

Murphy, a mother of two, who had her transplant operation in Guy’s Hospital, Central London, said: “I deliberately decided I didn’t need any feedback or any relationship.

“I wanted the person who needed this kidney focusing on getting well.

“Then I got a card sent from the boy. I knew then that the transplant had gone well, the youngster was alright and he’d be fit and healthy.”

(Image: DAILY MIRROR)

The thank-you note was delivered by the transplant service so the boy doesn’t know his donor’s identity.

Murphy said: “I’m what they call an altruism donor. I saw an advert on TV appealing for people to register as donors and it moved me quite profoundly. Having been 25 years in the NHS, it affected me deeply. I decided that it was something I was going to do.

“As a ward sister, a nursing sister and a health visitor, I felt confident in the NHS. I didn’t feel the least bit scared.”

Her children, a daughter aged 20 and son aged 22, were fully supportive and are hugely proud of her sacrifice.

(Image: DAILY MIRROR)

Murphy agreed to speak publicly after listening to two mothers in Brighton at Monday’s Mirror meeting in our fight to switch the law in England to an opt-out from an opt-in donor.

Murphy’s determination to boost organ donations was strengthened by listening to Max Johnson’s mum Emma talk about how a heart transplant saved her son’s life and Patricia Carroll recount how her daughter, Natalie, died waiting for a new organs.

She said of her decision to speak out now: “This isn’t about getting recognition. This is to promote the Mirror campaign.”

Despite a post-surgery infection that required hospital treatment, Murphy said: “I made a fabulous recovery. Everything’s fine and I have no regrets.

“This was something I did for me,” she said.

And a North East young man who owes his life to a woman he may never meet.