An Ottawa man who had a kidney transplant five days ago is home today a week earlier than expected. Craig Dunbar got the okay from doctors to return home. Dunbar is sore but surprisingly spry for man who underwent major surgery last Thursday. Just before he left the hospital, he got words of wisdom from a fellow transplant patient on how to take care of himself in a chance meeting with Helene Campbell who bumped into Dunbar on his way out of the hospital. Campbell got her gift of life, a new set of lungs, in the spring of 2012, and had some advice for her fellow transplant friend.

"Don't hug people,” Campbell told him, “even though we did and rest a lot and be honest with how you're feeling. You're the CEO of your health care.”

It was just five days ago that Dunbar received his kidney from a family friend, ending a six year dependency on dialysis. He was discharged from hospital a week earlier than expected.

'Surgery was Thursday afternoon,” says Dunbar, “from waking up Friday to here we are now, I’m on my way out the door.”

The volunteer firefighter and charity fundraiser is still sore from surgery and will require anti-rejection pills for the rest of his life.  But he and his wife Heather say they now have a new lease on life thanks to the donor, Ann Gervais, who offered up her kidney.

“The way this kidney is working already,” says Dunbar from his home in Carp, “if I behave myself, and look after it which I will this means an extra forty years of freedom who knows. I'm going to take advantage of every minute of it I’ll tell you that.”

“I have my husband back,” added his wife Heather, as they held hands at the dining room table.

The Dunbars just bought Craig's childhood home and are still moving in.  Helene Campbell told him he'll have to take it easy but she joked that the good news is, he can eat whatever he wants in order to put on weight.

“The more weight you gain the better,” she told him before he left the Ottawa Hospital, “We can have Mcdonalds whenever you want,” she laughed.

It has been almost a year to the day that we did the original story with Craig on his social media search for a donor.  He's thankful his story has had a happy ending but his mission is to continue to get the message out about the importance of organ donation.