‘Selfless in the face of grief’: The organ donors giving the gift of life

Hull Royal Infirmary

Twenty-one husbands, wives, sons and daughters in East Yorkshire have been given a second chance of life thanks to the courage of bereaved families.

Between April 2020 and March this year, 14 families agreed to donate the organs of their loved ones when they discovered there was no hope of them surviving illness or injury.

Thanks to those people who had shared their wishes with their families for what should happen in the event of their deaths, 21 people were able to receive life-saving or life-changing transplants.

This week is Organ Donation Awareness Week, which runs until Sunday,

Fay Turner, specialist nurse in organ donation at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We want to say a massive thank you to the families who know what their loved ones would have wanted to happen in the event of their deaths.

“Their selflessness in the face of their grief means 21 people have a chance to spend longer with their families and the people who love them, or to live pain-free lives.

“We owe them a huge debt of gratitude and, on behalf of us and the people who have a received an organ, we thank them for all they have done to help us.”

The message of this year’s Organ Donation Awareness Week is “Leave Them Certain”. The national spotlight is also highlighting the importance of education,  with blood, organ and stem cell donation now part of the school PHSE curriculum for young people in Key Stages 3 and 4.

To mark the event in our area, staff at the trust who work in the hospital restaurants, post room, general offices and reception desks will be wearing bright pink organ donation T-shirts.

Hull City Council buildings in Queen Victoria Square will light up pink along with The Deep, St Stephen’s shopping mall and other key landmarks in the city.