British Organ Donor Society

This is a means by which one human being can help another by vastly improving their quality of life or even giving life itself. Therefore organ and tissue donation is called the ‘Gift of Life’. Unfortunately in the vast majority of cases to give this gift the donor must die.

There are 6500 people in the UK on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Last year there were 2,500 patients lucky enough to receive a transplant from 850 donors (rounded figures from UK Transplant). Many people die who could have benefited from a transplant. There is therefore a desperate need for organ donors.

A very limited amount of live organ donations are possible (378 in 2001) but most organs come from people who have died. The majority of organ donors are people who have been admitted to a hospital Intensive Care Unit. Here the sole thought is to save their lives. However sometimes the brain stem dies and the patient is unable to breathe for themselves. Their breathing is artificially maintained by a Ventilator which keeps the heart beating and the organs functioning. For an organ donor the Ventilator will not be switched off until organs are being retrieved in an Operating Theatre. Here the donor is treated the same as a living patient undergoing an operation.

Tissues can be removed after the heart has stopped beating. The time limits after death vary from 24 to 72 hours depending on the tissues being retrieved. Some tissues can be kept in a ‘tissue bank’ for a considerable time after retrieval. Organs and tissues and even whole body donations are needed for valuable research and education.

Donated Organs: mainly kidney, heart, lung, liver and pancreas - occasionally bowel

Donated Tissues: - corneas, heart valves, skin, bone and connective tissues

It is much easier for families to make a decision regarding organ donation if they have discussed the situation earlier and if the possible donor is on the NHS Donor Register and/or carried a Donor Card. There are now nearly ten million people on the Organ Donor Register.

It is very important that both the prospective donor and their family are aware of the facts surrounding donation to enable them to make informed choices.

At the time of death it is helpful for families wishing to donate organs/tissues to volunteer. Although, naturally, younger donors are preferred age is not necessarily a bar to being a donor - eg several people have donate kidneys in their mid seventies and corneas can be used from people in their nineties. In the same way it is best to register even though you have some illness. At the time of organ donation all medical and age factors will be considered.

By phone request you will be mailed a Leaflet which gives some information about making a ‘Gift of Life’ and a plastic Donor Card. It also has a free post registration form where you can indicate the organs and tissues you are willing to donate.

The BODY website contains much useful information for students and the public. Readers can discover what it means to be a donor, what organs and tissues are used and how to register to be a donor. There is information on the Society and details and comments on events in the world of transplantation. There is also a ‘newsgroup’ where participants can exchange views and information. This ‘Email Group’ is moderated so that it can be used by all ages.

Unfortunately young people are often involved in organ and tissue donation either as a patient waiting for a transplant, as the donor patient or as a member of a family making the decision.

For several years BODY held a very successful series of Educational Roadshows for Schools and Colleges. The aim was to increase awareness and inform students, teachers and lecturers about organ an tissue donation and transplantation. This proved to be a very suitable topic for PSHE, RS, Science and now Citizenship studies.

The acclaimed video - The Race for Life - shows the series of events leading to organ donation from the perspective of the donor family followed by interviews with various recipients. There are currently three Booklets in the BODY ‘Gift of Life ‘ series; ‘An introduction to organ and tissue donation’; ‘The donor family handbook’ and ‘An introductory booklet for kidney patients and their families’.

Efforts are being made to have organ donation and transplantation included in the new Citizenship topic for schools. Pages, developed from the Educational Road Show and concerning the whole process of organ donation and transplantation, have been put on the BODY website. These pages can be accessed by teachers and educationalists, students and the general public for information or can be downloaded by teachers and used as visual support for lessons. In this way a much larger section of students and the public can receive information.

Statistics show that the fast majority of families will agree to organ and tissue donation if they know that this was the wish of the potential donor.

If you would like to be considered as an organ and tissue donor please talk about it with your family for it is they who will need to have your ‘Gift of Life’ honoured.