The cop who told me my son was dead saved my life 21 years later by giving me his kidney at Christmas...

A stranger when he knocked on Clare Brixey's door for the first time, Tim Swinburn has been in the unique position of delivering the worst and the best news to her - 21 years apart.

- BY LUCY LAING

Tim was a police liaison officer on October 3, 2004 when he told Clare, 61, and her husband Ivan, 67, that their beloved son, Ashley, 20, had been killed in a car accident.

She says: "When Tim knocked on our door that day it ripped our world apart and we have never got over it, we just have learnt to live with it over the years."

What she never expected was for the caring father-of-four to become a close friend and for him, 21 years later, to donate his kidney to save her life.

The transplant took place in September, and now the duo have recovered enough to enjoy Christmas.

Clare says: "The fact that he has now saved my life by donating his kidney is just amazing. Tim is the most selfless person he always thinks of others.

Even on Christmas Day this year, he is doing a fundraising walk to raise money for the homeless. I feel very privileged we are in one another's lives."

Clare was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age of 39 and had been on dialysis treatment for three months when Ashley was killed.

She explains: "His friend was driving a car that flipped over. It went off the road and into an outdoor swimming pool.

"Ashley was unconscious and he drowned before he could be rescued.

"Our family was devastated. Ashley and our daughter Melissa, now 44, were so close, and he was a wonderful son.

It was the worst news of our lives when we had that knock at the door at 3am that morning."

Struggling with her grief, Clare remained on dialysis until a kidney was found for her a year later, in October 2005.

As she recovered from the transplant, one of the people most delighted to see her well was Tim, who had stayed in Clare and Ivan's lives.

She says: "Tim and I remained friends after he delivered that devastating news that day. We kept in touch over the years."