Campaign day to highlight need for organ donors

And new figures released today as part of a county-wide campaign have revealed that 700 people across Yorkshire are currently waiting for an organ transplant.

The Be A Hero campaign, launched in July last year, urges people to sign the organ donation register to help save lives.

The campaign, run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is now organising Be A Hero Day on September 9 to raise awareness of the hundreds of patients on the transplant list.

After being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in 2012, father-of-three Ben Lavin knows how vital the need is for new donors to come forward.

The 41-year-old was told by doctors in 2012 that without a transplant he may not live beyond four years.

He underwent the life-saving live transplant at St James’s Hospital in Leeds just nine weeks ago, after his mother selflessly stepped forward as a donor.

Mr Lavin, who lives near Holmfirth, told The Yorkshire Post: “I went in with an inflamed knee, which I thought was from football, then after blood tests they said I had kidney disease and needed a transplant.

“My mum obviously did it for her son but she got a real sense of satisfaction in that it is extending someone else’s life. Without this, I would have had to be on dialysis and then, in four or five years, I wouldn’t have been here.”

Their operation in June was a success, and both are now recovering. Mr Lavin is urging others to sign the register as part of the campaign.

When the Be A Hero campaign launched last July, a total of 52,656 people signed up to the NHS’s Organ Donor Register during the first six months – a 38 per cent increase on the previous year.

It is now highlighting the need for more donors, as 456 people are currently waiting for an active transplant today in Yorkshire, and nearly 300 more who are in general need of one. The latest figures, released by the trust in Leeds, show that from April 2015 to April 2016, a remarkable 100 people in the region donated their organs after they died.

Those donations led to transplants for 300 different patients.

In Leeds alone, 29 people donated organs after death, which made transplants possible for 91 people.

Mr Lavin added: “All my family and friends are now putting themselves on the register because they now know how life saving it is.

“I would urge people to sign it because it can change someone else’s life.”

The campaign has been backed by the Duchess of York, who is now a patron, as well as film star Sir Patrick Stewart, cricketers Joe Root and Geoffrey Boycott, and sports clubs.

Dr Simon Flood, clinical lead for organ donation in Leeds, said; “We’re pleased to be putting organ donation firmly on the Yorkshire calendar.

“We are urging businesses, families and individuals in Yorkshire to show their support for those currently enduring an agonising wait on the transplant waiting list by pledging to support Be A Hero Day.”

Be A Hero Day takes place during Organ Donation Week, which runs from September 5-11 to highlight the importance of donating.

To pledge your support to Be A Hero Day, visit www.thndr.me/phdhgk.