ORGAN DONATION UP 11% IN A YEAR
Record rise after Mirror campaign
THE Daily Mirror’s drive to encourage organ donations has received a massive boost.
For the first time, the number of Britons giving organs after death in a year has topped 1,500.
Each donor is vital as reusing body parts is possible after fewer than 5,000 deaths a year.
Figures from the Organ Donation Register for 2017-18 show 1,575 people gave the gift of life last year after losing their own.
This was a record number, 162 more than the previous year and an 11% increase.
The Mirror’s Change the Law for Life campaign calling for an opt out system for donation has Government backing. Labour MP Geoffrey Robinson has a Private Member’s Bill going through Parliament to get the law altered.
He said: “I welcome this fantastic increase and it just shows the impact raising aware- ness can have. This can only be taken further by making this law change and it is vital we get this through to save many more lives.
“A lot of the problem is ignorance and, as soon as people find out more about it, they usually agree with organ dona-
I welcome this fantastic increase. It shows the impact raising awareness can have GEOFFREY ROBINSON LABOUR MP WHO PUT FORWARD BILL
tion because, for most people, it’s a no-brainer.” The new law may save hundreds of lives every year.
Sally Johnson, director of NHS Organ Donation and Transplantation, said: “This news will give hope to the desperately ill people who are waiting for that lifesaving phone call.”
One donor was Ben Glean, 18, of Grimsby, North East Lincs, who died after undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes.
His mum Karen, 49, knew Ben wanted to be a donor and said: “In my darkest time there was a light to be shone for someone else.”