Kirstie's legacy: family seek to change organ donation law

The parents of a young woman who died following a double lung transplant have been meeting with politicians as they continue their daughter's campaign to change the organ donation law.

Kirstie Tancock, 27, from Honiton, lived with cystic fibrosis and died in December when her body rejected her second transplant.

Her family vowed to carry on her fight to make 'Kirstie's Law' a reality. They recently travelled to Wales to speak to ministers and doctors about the 'opt-out' system they introduced in 2015 - something they want to see in England.

Under Welsh law, everyone is presumed to have given consent to donate their organs after they die, unless they specifically choose to opt-out. Kirstie's family say the same law should be applied in England.

Kirstie's husband Stuart added: 'More people need a chance to live. There are people dying on the waiting list every day. It's not just people dying, it's people waiting and not having a good quality of life.'

How realistic is it to change the law in England?

Transplant surgeon Mike Williams, who was instrumental in helping change the law in Wales, says it's definitely possible: "You only need a small increase in numbers to help lots and lots of different people. So in Wales we're looking at successes in the extra 10 or 15 donors per year. That will potentially offer five or six organs per donor."

"If you transfer that to the English population which is a lot larger, then you're going a long way to sorting out the organ donation shortage."

Health Minister Vaughn Gething agrees. He said, "because of the evidence and potential for saving life, I didn't find it that difficult to be convinced."

Watch the full report by Jacquie Bird below: