Nearly 400 alive thanks to donations in Worcestershire - The Redditch Standard

Nearly 400 alive thanks to donations in Worcestershire

Redditch Editorial 14th Jul, 2017   0

THE number of people living in the county currently known to be alive thanks to organ transplants has reached 397.

This figure is revealed by NHS Blood and Transplant, whose annual Transplant Activity Report, published today, shows the UK-wide number of people alive thanks to transplants has reached the milestone figure of 50,000.

NHS Blood and Transplant is now urging people in Worcestershire to help even more people to survive by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register.

More people are alive thanks to transplants because of improving survival rates and increased public commitment to donation. In Worcestershire, the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register has increased by 29 per cent over the past five years to 233,742 in Worcestershire, compared to 181,792 five years ago.




Anyone can sign up as a donor on the NHS Organ Donor Register. How old you are or any existing medical conditions shouldn’t stop you from signing up. You could save or transform up to nine people’s lives by donating your organs when you die and help even more by donating tissue.

The public support for donation also means more people in Worcestershire are receiving lifesaving and life enhancing transplants. Last year 24 people in Worcestershire had transplants, compared to 23 five years ago.


Despite the record breaking public commitment to donation, there is still a shortage of organ donors.

Sally Johnson, director of Organ Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It’s amazing to picture all the people now alive today thanks to organ donation and think of all the families and children who have grown up thanks to donors.

“However there is still a long way to go. Around three people still die a day in need of a transplant. Every one of those people who died could be a mother or a father, a daughter or a son, who might be alive today. Please join the NHS Organ Donor Register. It only takes two minutes.”

To join the Organ Donor Register visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk

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