THIS Organ Donation Week (23 September – 29 September 2024) NHS Blood and Transplant is celebrating the fact that the NHS Organ Donor Register has been helping to save lives for 30 years through the gift of organ donation – with more than 2.6 million people in the North West declaring their willingness to donate their organs after death.

Since the creation of the NHS Organ Donor Register in 1994, more than 100,000 people in the UK had their lives saved by an organ transplant, including almost 11,000 people in the North West.

Although organ donation has been saving lives in the UK since the 1950’s, the NHS Organ Donor Register was created 30 years ago to promote the wider message of organ donation and allow people to record their decision to be a donor.

1 person who knows what a lasting impact organ donation and transplant can have is Lucy Ryan who lives in Salford. Her life was saved by a heart transplant when she was a baby, and she is still feeling well more than 30 years later. Lucy, 34, and a student at Salford University, where she also works, says:- “Luckily, I received my heart transplant quickly in spring 1993. I don’t remember much but I do have a vague memory of lying on my parent’s bed, sleeping or resting, and then being rushed off in an ambulance for my transplant.

“I have been very lucky, I wouldn’t be here without my heart transplant. 31 years later I am here, very fit and well, currently about to enter my 3rd and final year of a Theatre and Performance Practice undergraduate degree at the University of Salford. This can be quite a physical degree, so not only am I doing well to keep up with those 15 years my junior, but over 3 decades post-transplant. I have moved around the country, held multiple jobs at the same time, socialised with friends and family, travelled to Australia, Canada and other places and competed in the British and World Transplant Games. My highlights of the last 31 years are definitely competing in Australia at an international level, going to Canada last month with university, being able to be busy with study and work and just being able to do normal, everyday things with my family and friends – go for meals, catch up – the things we sometimes take for granted.

“I don’t think I can put into words how grateful I am to my donor and their incredible family. Without them, I simply wouldn’t be alive today. Amazingly the Organ Donor Register is younger than my transplant but great it has been around for 30 years, saving lives. I hope marking the anniversary raises awareness of organ donation and the difference it makes. If you’re in favour of donation then you can sign up to the Organ Donor Register – it only takes 2 minutes. Last but not least don’t forget to share your wishes with your loved ones.”

Natalie Kerr, from Adlington, had a lung transplant 12 years ago after being diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension after the birth of her 2nd child, Isabelle.

The 42-year-old has seen Isabelle and her son Brandon grow up and has been busy making memories. She says:- “When I was diagnosed and given 3 years to live my biggest fear was that I wasn’t going to be here to see them grow up. I absolutely love being their mum and the thought of being taken away from them broke my heart. I wanted to see everything, all the milestones. 12 years on from my transplant I am so very thankful to my donor, who was on the register, for keeping me here with my children. It breaks my heart to think of everything I would have missed. Thanks to my donor my children still have their mum and we have made so many happy memories.

“In the last 12 years, thanks to my donor, I’ve probably lived more than most people live in a lifetime, including holidays, competing in the transplant games and seeing my children through school treasuring every single moment. Isabelle has just finished her GCSEs and I’ve recently proudly seen her go to Prom. Brandon is 21 and at university and recently passed his driving test. I pinch myself that I’m here to witness all this, it is beyond a miracle. I feel so blessed to have had all this extra time, my donor gave me a future I didn’t think I had. Happy 30th birthday to the Organ Donor register. You saved my life and thousands of others, it’s incredible.

“I urge everyone to think about organ donation and join the register. The 30th anniversary is a great time to join as there will be so much information available and so many stories being shared. How amazing for your family and friends to know that’s you’ve saved someone else’s life when you’ve gone, organ donors really are heroes.”

In the North West, 337 patients received a lifesaving transplant from a deceased donor last year and 126 residents donated their organs after death. Many of those had recorded their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. However, the waiting list for a transplant in the UK is higher than ever before, with 850 patients in the region still actively waiting for a lifesaving organ.

Only around 1% of people who die in the UK every year are usually able to donate their organs after death. Donors are typically those who have died in a hospital intensive care unit or emergency department due to brain injuries, cardiac arrest or other trauma.

It is vital that everyone who wants to be a donor registers their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and talks it through with their families who will be expected to support their decision should the time come.

Families are far more likely to support donation when they already know it was what their relative wanted. Almost 90% of people honoured their family members decision last year when they had either proactively registered their decision to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register or verbally expressed a decision to be a donor.

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, at NHS Blood and Transplant, says:- “Every day across the UK there are thousands of patients and their families, waiting for that all important life-saving call. Yet, this is often only possible as a result of another family receiving some of the hardest news they might ever have to hear. The change in the law now means that it’s assumed that when someone dies in circumstances where they could be a donor, that they agree to donate if they haven’t officially opted out. However, no-one is automatically added to the Organ Donor Register. You still need to confirm your own decision and your family will still be consulted before donation goes ahead and will be expected to support your decision. With 850 patients in the North West waiting for organ transplants, it’s more important than ever to register your organ donation decision and make it known to your family.”

This year, the UK will once again ‘Go Pink’ for Organ Donation Week. Councils, businesses, charities and famous landmarks up and down the country are turning their lights pink for the week to show their support for the thousands waiting for a transplant.

Take time out to talk about organ donation with your family and friends, and if you want to help raising the awareness, GO PINK! You can wear pink, bake pink, drink pink…change your profile to pink, light up pink, encourage your children to wear pink, paint something pink, the pinkibilities are endless! The aim is to go as pink as possible, to help people really see the support for organ donation around the country, and to find out more about it. 

For more information, or to register your organ donation decision, please visit:- www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call:- 0300 123 23 23. NHS app users in England can also use the service to record, check or update their organ donation decision.