Overton man Nicholas Crace receives 'Oldie of the Year' award from Sir Terry Wogan (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Overton man Nicholas Crace receives 'Oldie of the Year' award from Sir Terry Wogan

8:00pm Monday 25th February 2013 in News By Emily Roberts, Chief Reporter

THE UK’s oldest kidney donor has been presented an Oldie of the Year Award by Sir Terry Wogan.

Last year, at the age of 83, Overton resident Nicholas Crace became the oldest altruistic kidney donor in the country when he gave away one of his organs to a stranger on the NHS waiting list.

Now he has accepted the Oldie Donor of the Year award from The Oldie magazine. Previous winners of the magazine’s awards, given to those “with a bit of snap left in their celery”, include David Attenborough and Prince Philip.

Mr Crace received his gong at the 20th annual ceremony on February 12. The 84-year-old, who lives in The Lynch, was among numerous famous faces at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand in London, where the main award, Golden Oldie of the Year, went to former Cabinet minister Michael Heseltine.

Mr Crace said: “It was amazing. All of one’s childhood heroes were there. I was sitting two feet away from Ronnie Corbett.”

The former charity director had his kidney removed at Queen Alexandra Hospital, in Portsmouth, after deciding to donate following the death of his wife Brigid. He said of his decision: “I couldn’t have lived with myself with the knowledge that I had the chance of changing someone’s life and had turned it down.”

Mr Crace took Lucy Chester, the co-ordinator of organ transplants at Queen Alexandra Hospital, as his guest to the ceremony. He said: “We had a wonderful lunch and Terry Wogan told some wonderful jokes – he was very good. It was a lovely party.”

The modest pensioner added: “I felt unworthy really. I don’t know how they selected me as one of the winners, but it was very nice.”

He was presented with a cartoon picture of himself and the other winners.