Albion defender Jim McNulty has been boosted by a visit from a fellow kidney victim.

BBC news presenter Nick Owen dropped in to see McNulty at his home near Haywards Heath as he recovers from surgery to remove his right kidney.

Owen, patron of the Argus Appeal, also lost a kidney seven years ago due to cancer.

The Argus brought the pair together and Owen’s words of encouragement have given McNulty a big lift as he comes to terms with the injury he suffered during the home game against Crewe last month.

Owen, whose late father was an Albion fanatic, spent 45 minutes chatting to McNulty about his own experience and re-assuring him the loss of a kidney is not nearly as severe as it sounds.

The 62-year-old newsreader said: “I don’t know what I was expecting but Jim looks really well.

“He’s had a horrible injury on the field and mine came out of the blue as well but the outlook is 100% good.

“There are a few things in the body that we have got two of but you can certainly lose one kidney and there is no effect.

“Two of my mother’s brothers have had a kidney removed in different circumstances. People seem to lose kidneys left, right and centre.

“Loads of people thought, especially at my age, that I would be slowing down. In a way it has been the opposite. Normal life is absolutely fine.”

McNulty, 24, has been cleared by the FA to carry on playing and Albion are hoping the left-back, bought from Stockport in January for £150,000, will be back in action early next season.

Chairman Dick Knight said: “The operation he had lasted three-and-a-half hours and it took so long because Jim is so fit and his muscles are so strong.

“That is why they were able to send him back home after five or six days. It’s just amazing. It is normally double that. He is a strong character.

“He has only played five games for us but he has already become a bit of a cult hero because he plays with a smile on his face. He is that type of player – you can see he enjoys it.”

McNulty is still playing a part in Albion’s fight for League One survival.

He helped persuade former Stockport team-mate Gary Dicker to sign for the Seagulls on loan for the rest of the season during long conversations on the phone.

Knight joked: “I have told Jim when he stops playing in 15 years time he can have a job with us as a salesman!”

Albion could, by a strange twist of fate, be up against another ex-Stockport colleague in the same situation as McNulty at MK Dons on Saturday.

“Stephen Gleeson is on loan from Wolves to MK Dons now,” McNulty said. “I played with him for nine months and he rang me when I was in hospital to tell me he has only got one kidney. I didn’t even know.

“The specialist told me you only need 50 per cent of one to function. I was amazed and I have learnt so much since about kidneys.

“There are no lifetsyle changes. The only thing is the kidneys regulate your blood pressure, so that is something I will have to check every six months.

“The lucky thing about this injury for me is that it’s not my knee or ankle or something like that.

“Some players come back from those type of injuries and they are not the same. Mechanically for me nothing will change.”