IT is every parents worst nightmare. To see your child ill and be unable to do anything about it.

For Mel and Steven Campbell, of Rogerstone, the problem is twice as bad.

Sons Luke and Ashley have now been waiting 17-months for life-saving operations - both have rare tissue and are waiting for kidney transplants. And when one does become available, Mr and Mrs Campbell cannot face the decision over who gets it first.

"We planned for both to have the operations at the same time but, unfortunately, because we have been waiting so long, we have decided that if one kidney becomes available then one of them should have the transplant first," Mrs Campbell said.

The 35-year-old still becomes emotional when she talks about the day in 1995 she was told Luke and Ashley, then both four, would one day need a transplant.

"I was absolutely devastated," said the mum-of-four. "I can remember going into a room and I just wanted to punch somebody. I felt so angry."

The family came to terms with years of constant medication, hospital visits and tests. Then, 17 months ago, they were told transplants were the only option.

Mrs Campbell said children normally get a new kidney within four to six months but Ashley and Luke, now 13, have waited longer because of their rare tissue.

A consultant will eventually decide who gets the transplant first. The boys, who are two of triplets, have had peritoneal dialysis for a year.

This involves being attached to machines for eight hours a night. Mr and Mrs Campbell already had son Gavin,15, when they discovered they were expecting.

Luke, Ashley and sister Sinead arrived six weeks early but healthy. Since then, the family has lived in Hong Kong and Germany.

When they moved to Oxfordshire it became clear the boys were not growing as quickly as Sinead and doctors did blood tests.

"They had found an abnormality in their kidney function," said their mum. "They had familial juvenile nephro-nephritis. It is a hereditary condition, Steven and I both carry the gene. No-one knew we had it."

They returned to Newport in 2000.

"The condition has progressed more since we came back. I don't see the difference in them as much as other people but they do get tired very easily," Mrs Campbell said.

Despite attempts to carry on a normal family life, the dialysis machines even have to be taken on holidays.

But the Bassaleg Comprehensive pupils bravely take it in their stride.

They are typical teenagers who play computer games and go swimming but they have had to give up rugby.

The pair even tried sailing in the Isle of Wight, arranged by the National Kidney Foundation.

Mrs Campbell, who carries a bleeper in case a kidney becomes available, admits the situation dominates their lives.

"We are on call 24/7. Even if we go out for the evening one of us doesn't drink just in case. We could get a call at any time of day or night," she said.

She was critical of the organ transplant system in Britain where people have to carry a donor card if they want their organs to be used after death. But families can withhold consent in certain circumstances.

Thankfully, there is a growing campaign to adopt an "opt-out" scheme where people have to declare they do not want their organs used.

Mrs Campbell strongly supports kidney research and is running Cardiff's half marathon to raise funds for the National Kidney Research Fund.

In Germany she also raised more than £1,200 with a parachute jump and two years ago she and sister Julia abseiled down the Royal Gwent Hospital, in Newport.

"NKRF help us every day of Luke and Ashley's life. I totally believe in research - Luke and Ashley probably wouldn't be here without it," she said.