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An infant just five weeks old became the youngest organ donor in Britain, saving a woman dying of kidney failure. The tiny organs were transplanted into Samira Kauser after the child died of heart failure. Miss Kauser, a 22-year-old healthcare assistant, said: �Words cannot express the gratitude I feel to the parents of this baby. My life was standing still � now I can live it. �They have lost so much more than I can ever comprehend. Their only solace is that someone else has been able to carry on with their life. It is a massive gift.� The seven-hour operation was carried out at St James�s University Hospital in Leeds by surgeon Niaz Ahmad. He said that previously there had been a cultural taboo about using donors so young but that consensus is being swept away due to a chronic shortage of donors. Kidneys fully function at around 37 weeks in the womb so could technically be transplanted into an adult from that time. After the baby died earlier this year following a major infection, Mr Ahmad was told that the parents wanted to donate the baby�s kidneys, which were only 4cm long. Miss Kauser, from Halifax, had suffered more than 90 per cent renal failure due to a genetic condition that caused cysts to damage her kidneys beyond repair. She spent nine hours every night on a dialysis machine. After six months of careful monitoring, the operation has been declared a success. The kidneys are functioning well and have grown to 7cm, with the potential to reach 75 per cent of adult size. Miss Kauser, who works at Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax, plans to get married next year � something she never wanted to do while on dialysis. She said in an interview: �I remember the time the call came through. It was 1.48am � Then I found out it was a child who had died and I felt so sad. I thought about the parents and how much they wanted to donate and I knew I had to have the operation, even though I was scared.� Joe Brierley, of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, said organ donation from babies is an important step when there are more than 7,000 people on transplant waiting lists. He said: �This should be something we offer as a suggestion to families of dying babies � it is something positive arising from a total tragedy.�