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'Be a Hero' plea for organ donors

Be a Hero campaign

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is launching a new ‘Be a Hero’ campaign in a bid to encourage more Yorkshire residents to sign the donor register.

Whilst nearly everyone would take a donated organ if they needed one, only around a third of the population have joined the Organ Donor Register. There are more than 10,000 people in the UK currently need a transplant and of these, three a day will die waiting.

Health bosses say this figure could be reduced if more people signed up to the organ donor register. ‘Be a Hero’ has created a new emblem highlighting that you don’t have to be a superhero to save a life. For those involved in organ donation, a hero can come in many forms. It might be the donor who saved your life. It might be the family that consented to it, the Specialist Nurse who accompanied the family of a donor through the organ donation process, or the surgeon who transplanted your new organ.

We are proud to launch the ‘Be a Hero’ campaign and discover real life heroes across Yorkshire. Last year, just over 100 people in Yorkshire donated an organ after their death. Together these amazing individuals provided 294 lifesaving transplants. Sadly there are still nearly 800 people in Yorkshire waiting for a transplant. Just one organ donor can transform the lives of up to nine people and if more families felt sure of their loved one’s wishes to be a donor, more lives could be saved.

– Dr Simon Flood, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Kim Richards and Jayne Fisher joined Gaynor Barnes and John Shires in the Calendar studio, to stress the importance of signing up to the donor register.

Kim has already had a kidney transplant and is now waiting for another. Jayne Fisher is in charge of organ donation services in the Calendar region.

The Leeds Transplant Centre at LTHT has been providing complex specialist organ transplantation services for the Yorkshire and Humber region for over 25 years. It is the third largest liver transplant unit in the UK, a leading centre for ‘live related’ transplants and a regional centre for renal transplants. You can find out here more about organ donation and join the NHS Organ Donor Register or by calling 0300 123 23 23 - please remember to reference the Yorkshire 'Be A Hero' campaign.