Organ donation

Linda: I've had an open donation card. The thing that I didn't know was whether or not John would agree with organ donation. So my message, my biggest message would be for people to, to talk about organ donation, to talk about their wishes, and of course their wishes might be that they would not wish to be an organ donor. Which is fine, it's a free country, we're entitled to our opinions.

Lesley: But on the final letter from the co-ordinator, she enclosed another letter from one of the recipients. A gentleman called [name] who had received Christian's lungs. And that letter was just absolutely wonderful.

Paul: It was meeting somebody who explained that, you know, getting a kidney had been like winning the lottery from his point of view. It was somebody who had been on dialysis for a number of years.

So was this a patient?

It was a patient yes. It was somebody I, I saw in the course of  work. In fact he said it was better than winning the lottery because he said it was, you know, even winning the lottery wouldn't have changed his life as much as that.

Cheryl: It wasn't a nice time for me because I'm very independent. And it was one of them times where sometimes I wished, you know, I just wished the call would come that I would actually have the transplant because I wanted to get back to normal, what you call normal. But, you know, I also knew, like I said, they were waiting for the right ones.

Deepak: After my transplant. It was quite remarkable, actually. I still believe it was a miracle transplant for all kinds of reasons. And, you know, the doctor said my goodness, you've kicked back, you know, almost from day one after the ten days when it didn't kick in. And I felt my energy levels peaked even more than before my illness. And so I was quite hyperactive almost, wanting to do this…, maybe trying to make up for lost time in a way.

Di: This whole experience, even with its hiccups and personal stresses, which is just me being impatient really, has been a wonderful experience. One that I would gladly do again and again and again and again even with all the hiccups because the reward at the end, not only for the recipient but for me, has been something that's going to stay with me forever. And it's, you know what greater gift can you give anybody than give them their life back or give them back to their family? There isn't yet it’s so easy to do.

I am Baroness Finlay of Llandaff.

I’m a doctor and I’m also in the House of Lords, and I was involved in supporting Welsh government taking through their soft opt-out system.

And I’ve been involved in supporting the legislation as it’s gone through at Westminster for England.

So now we have a soft opt-out system where it’s presumed that people are happy to donate their organs after their death unless they’ve indicated otherwise or registered their decision for opt out.

The principle behind this is simple decisions about organ donation rest with individuals to make during their lifetime, and families can feel reassured that they’re supporting what their relative had wanted when their relative dies if they’re possibly an organ donor.

If you live in the uk, you can be expected to make your decision about organ donation while you are alive, and you can do this in many ways, which are run through now.

You can register your decision on the organ donation register, and there’s a link to it on this site.

You can discuss your decision about organ donation with your family and friends so they know what you want or you can do nothing and be happy that you are presumed to be an organ donor.

Now, if you are worried that your family or another person wouldn’t support your decision or you are unsure or you’d like further information, you can opt to appoint or nominate someone to be your representative.

Most people find the easiest way to ensure their decisions will be respected and upheld is to register on the organ donor register and discuss their decision with their families.

There are resources to help you discuss your views and decisions with your family, and they’re available on the website.

The steps are simple.

Get the facts, talk about it, relax, speak from your heart, talk about your beliefs, and don’t delay.

Talk about organ donation today. Don’t put it off.

It’s simple. Thank you.