Organ donors can save lives

vast array of items she had produced and gave a most interesting talk on the range of plants and fungi used to obtain the variety of colours used. It made for a fascinating evening. Marilyn and her helpers set a very high standard for the coming year. Competition winners: Three Cheese Scones – 1, Mary Harkness; 2, Sheena Kerr; 3, Edith Steel. Hedgerow in a Jam Jar – 1, Jean Drummond; 2, Liz Mcallan; 3, Marion Law. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 4, when Liz Mcintyre returns to Gilmourton to talk on ‘Nan’s Story’. The competitions that evening will be for a ‘piece of wartime memorabilia’ and ‘three anzac biscuits’. Strathaven MP Lisa Cameron is urging residents to join the Organ Donor Register.

Across Scotland, there are 4345 people currently alive thanks to organ donors and their families.

Dr Cameron said: “Organ donation is a fundamental part of the NHS saving lives. It’s not something we like to really think about but in the worst case scenario, being an organ donor give us the opportunity to save someone else’s life.”

Among those who have already benefited is Lanarkshire man Gordon Hutchison, the face of the national ‘We Need Everybody’ campaign, which originally aired last year and is now back on our TV screens.

Gordon, from East Kilbride, underwent a transplant aged just 13 after being born with a congenital heart defect.

He stripped off for the TV advert to reveal his transplant scar on screen, delivering the message that organ donation saves lives, as someone who knows first-hand.

Gordon said: “Because of my donor, I was able to grow into a teenager, play football, pass my driving test, get my first job and get married – things I’m grateful for every day.”

As a nation, 45 per cent of people have already shared their decision to become an organ donor by joining the Register.

However, there are still nearly 600 people waiting on a life-saving transplant.

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register visit www.organdonationscotland.org.