'My brother helped 17 people when he died - we need more organ donors'

A woman who campaigned for the organ donor register to be established says more people should have conversations about their wishes after their death.

Christine Cox's brother Peter helped 17 people when he died from a brain tumour, aged 24, including a grandfather who got his heart and lived for 12 more years.

She spoke as the NHS Blood and Transplant announced its first urgent plan to address a "significant and accelerating decline" in organ donation. It said only 1% of people in the UK die in circumstances where donation is possible and the pool of eligible donors has reduced by around 20% since 2019/20.

Cox said: "It is really vital we get another, at least, one million people onto that register in the next few months."

Wolverhampton-based Cox, who has spent 35 years campaigning on organ donation, continued: "We need you to tell your family what your wishes are, and for you to find out what their wishes are.

"Sadly, so many families don't understand what the wishes are and consent rates have fallen.

"Nine people die every week waiting for a transplant, and it's just so unnecessary."

As of the end of August, there were 575 patients on the waiting list for a transplant in the West Midlands (the Birmingham city region).

The waiting list also included 26 people in Herefordshire, 83 in Worcestershire, 89 in Warwickshire, 56 in Shropshire and 175 in Staffordshire.

There were more than 28 million people on the register, Cox said, and there had been more than 100,000 transplants since the register was first established.

She added that improvements in medical care now meant more people were able to benefit from having an organ transplant.

"The problem is we need everybody to start the conversation," she said.

Kirsty Lazenby, a nurse at Midlands Organ and Tissue Transplantation Services, said people being aware of their loved ones' wishes in advance made things much easier.

However, less than 1% of the population die in circumstances that would allow them to become an organ donor after their death, she said.

"Unfortunately those circumstances are often sudden and tragic circumstances, and families are at such a devastating point of grief that often it's really difficult for them to have those conversations," she explained.

It was one of the most important conversations people could have, she added, and that the need was greater than ever.

"Registering a decision and then letting your loved ones know that decision is really, really important.

"It just releases any burden from family members that are involved in those conversations at the time of their loved one's death."

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