John Roberts urges people to spell out their organ donation decision.
New figures out this week show that just 45% of families agree to organ donation going ahead if they are unaware of their loved one’s decision to be a donor, but this figure rises to 95% when they know the decision. To mark the start of this year’s National Transplant Week (July 7-13), Bro John travelled to Parliament on 9th July to meet his MP to highlight the importance of telling family and friends your donation decision.
John appears at a recent event with his MP, Barbara Keely, at the Houses of Parliament organised by NHS Blood and Transplant and the British Kidney Patient Association, spelling out their wish to be an organ donor. By doing this, they are telling their loved ones and urging local people to do the same. The aim of this year’s Transplant Week campaign is to get people to ‘spell out’ their donation decision to increase awareness that families will be asked to agree to organ donation and to encourage more people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.
John said:
“Letting your loved ones know you want to be an organ donor is so important.”
“It is devastating for families when someone they love passes away, so it’s not fair to expect them to have to make the decision for you. If you talk openly to your family about your decision to donate your organs, it could save them a great deal of stress when you die.”
On average, three people a day die in need of an organ transplant in the UK because there aren’t enough organs available. Despite the thousands of life-saving transplant operations which take place every year, around 10,000 people are currently in need of a lifesaving organ transplant.
Sally Johnson, NHS Blood and Transplant’s Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation, added:
“We know that families are much less likely to allow organ donation to go ahead if they don’t know it’s what their loved one wanted. So, have the conversation and spell it out.
“Tell those closest to you that you want to donate your organs after you die to help some of the 10,000 people in the UK currently in need of a life-changing organ transplant.”
Sally Taber, British Kidney Patient Association Chair of Trustees, said:
“We hope that the message of transplant week will continue throughout the year. Our patients are enormously grateful to organ donors and their families for the gift of life.”
For further information about National Transplant Week and to register your organ donation decision, go to https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/. Follow NHS Blood and Transplant on Twitter @NHSOrganDonor and support us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/organdonationuk and remember to #spellitout.
The British Kidney Patient Association supports kidney patients; to find out more, please go to: www.britishkidney-pa.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @The_BKPA.