66,000 of Newark and Sherwood’s residents signed up to help save lives, NHS Blood and Transplant reveals as it marks Organ Donation Week
More than 16,000 lives have been saved through organ donation in the Midlands — with over 60,000 of the district’s residents on the donor register.
This Organ Donation Week, September 23 to 29, NHS Blood and Transplant is celebrating 30 years of live-saving gifts through the NHS Organ Donor Register — with more than 3.8million people in the Midlands having declared their willingness to donate their organs after death.
This equates to 66,146 people on the register in Newark and Sherwood, and a total of 485,590 across Nottinghamshire.
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 more than 16,000 people in the Midlands.
Although organ donation has been saving lives in the UK since the 1950s, the NHS Organ Donor Register was created 30 years ago to promote organ donation and allow people to record their decision to be a donor.
638 patients received a lifesaving transplant from a deceased donor last year in the Midlands.
Mark Brown, a 57-year-old kitchen fitter from Nottingham, knows how the legacy of organ donation can be lived out by those, like him, who get a second chance at life.
Mark received a kidney transplant 30 years ago after being diagnosed with the genetic condition Alport’s Syndrome. He spent his teens and early twenties in and out of hospital and on dialysis before a match was found for him.
Mark said: “I had been on holiday skiing in 1994 with my then girlfriend Jo, now my wife, and was only back a week when I got the phone call to say a match had been found. I was over the moon and so thankful for the opportunity of a better life. I spent 16 days recovering in hospital and then took a year out to travel the world as a thank you to my donor for allowing me the opportunity.
“My health greatly improved, and I was blessed to go on to be a father to two wonderful children, Jess and Ben. I take part in the Transplant Games every year and have won medals for curling, darts, archery, golf and indoor bowls. I can’t thank my donor enough for giving me this opportunity.”
Last year, 195 Midlands residents donated their organs after death, and 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 1,399 patients in the region still waiting for a lifesaving organ.
Only around 1% of people who die in the UK every year are able to donate their organs after death, and 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 those who want to be a donor register their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and talk it through with their families, who will be expected to support their decision at the time.
Anthony Clarkson, director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation, at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “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 1,399 patients in the Midlands waiting for organ transplants, it’s more important than ever to register your organ donation decision and make it known to your family.”
