Killingbeck's Brian Walker, chairman of the Leeds General Infirmary Kidney Patients' Association, developed Clostridium difficile (C.diff) the day before he was due home after an operation. He had already fought the superbug MRSA.

And the YEP has discovered another five patients on the same ward at LGI also had C.diff around the same time.

Grandfather and kidney patient Mr Walker's family say they are angry – not over his care but about the circumstances of his death.

His wife, Pauline, said: "Everybody did what they should but the C.diff should not be in there.

"To go into LGI over a period of two months, to first catch MRSA and to overcome that and to be struck down by the other bug in the hospital makes us very angry.

"If they had sent him home a day earlier, he would still be here."

The 75-year-old was in hospital to have his leg amputated below the knee after foot ulcers had turned gangrenous. He had also picked up MRSA in the wound.

Mrs Walker said the operation went well, he was declared medically fit and they were preparing for his return home when he developed diarrhoea. It was caused by C. diff.

His condition deteriorated until Mrs Walker was told he needed risky colon surgery or would die. Her husband did not recover from the operation and died the next day, July 20.

"He was such a good husband and father – a lovely man," she said.

The father-of-two and grandfather-of-four did a variety of jobs but also raised thousands of pounds for charity as singer and comedian Brian Barry.

In his early 60s Mr Walker was diagnosed with kidney failure and had dialysis three times a week. Then 10 years ago he became LGI Kidney Patients Association (KPA) chairman, treating it as a full-time job.

Under his leadership, achievements included providing home comforts for wards and campaigning to keep a dialysis unit at Seacroft Hospital open.

"He felt passionately about it," Mrs Walker said. "He was very articulate. His body might not have been right but there was nothing wrong with his brain."

Tony Duxbury, membership secretary of the LGI KPA, said: "He was the backbone of the committee. He did an absolutely fantastic job."

A Leeds Teaching Hospitals spokesman said: "We would like to express our sympathy to the family of Mr Walker and record our sincere appreciation for the work he did on behalf of the KPA.

"We can confirm that there were six positive cases of C.diff, including Mr Walker's, identified on the ward during a five-week period in June and early July.

"The trust infection control team worked very closely with the ward to manage the situation. We monitor cases of C.diff rigorously and take every possible step to prevent the spread of infection."