Councils, business, hospitals and community groups around the country are turning their buildings pink, which is the colour of the country’s ‘Yes I Donate’ organ donation campaign, to inspire people to tell their families that they want to be a donor and to register their decision.
Nationally, someone dies every day in need of an organ, and there are almost 7,000 people currently on the active transplant waiting list.
Jane Tute, Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “It was wonderful to see the pink lights shining across Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals last night.
“NHS Blood and Transplant are urging people to register their donation decision and have the ‘Organ Donation heart to heart’ with their families.
“Families are more likely to support donation when they know their loved one’s decision, so have the ‘heart to heart’ with your loved ones today.”
There are currently more than 30 million people in the UK who have registered their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register with more than 27 million of them explicitly agreeing to be an organ donor when they die, but this still only represents around 44% of the UK population.
Even though the law around organ donation has now changed to an ‘opt out’ system across England, Scotland and Wales, family members will still always be involved before organ donation goes ahead. This means it is just as important as ever to register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and ensure your friends and family know what you want and will support your decision.
Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant said: “It’s brilliant of DBTH to show its support for Organ Donation Week. The modern organ donor card is pink, and it certainly gets conversations going.
“We need people in South Yorkshire to not only talk to their families about organ donation, but to register their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register. This could be the difference between life and death for someone else.”
Register your donation decision at www.organdonation.nhs.uk