Organ Donation

Paul Burns
Consultant Vascular Surgeon
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

“I joined the register many years ago. I think some people avoid joining the register because they may be a bit ‘squeamish’ at the thought, but for me it always seemed an obvious thing to do.”

Like most people Paul and his family’s involvement with the organ donor register was unexpected.

“Almost nine years ago my dad and I returned home from hill walking to find my mum unconscious in her bed. She was taken immediately to the Western General, where she was found to have had a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage, from which she would not survive.

“My family had previously had numerous dinner-table conversations [about organ donation] so my brother, father and myself asked the nursing team whether organ donation might be possible. Once we discussed this with the transplant coordinator my mother was than able to donate her kidneys and liver.

“We subsequently received anonymised information, two letters from the kidney recipients and information about the liver recipient. The people who received my mum’s kidneys had their lives transformed, and were no longer tied to dialysis three times a week. Their letters were very touching, and the people were eternally grateful.

“We also heard that my mother’s liver was donated to a young child, who was extremely unwell, and would have died within a few hours, if it were not for a transplant.  Being the father of six children myself, it brings a lump to my throat just thinking about this.

“These positive notes gave my family some focus during the bereavement process, which is always going to be a difficult time.

“If you are able to sign up to the register it’s the most generous gift you can give.”

Grant McKail
Perioperative Practitioner 
Western General Hospital

“I joined the organ donor register several years ago using the option on my driving license. In my line of work I’ve been involved in many retrievals and have seen the benefits to so many people it. Signing up was a no brainer.

“My first exposure to organ donation was in November 2001, just after I had started my training. My uncle had a massive stroke and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in the Borders General.

“He was a single man, with no family of his own and my mum was his next of kin. She was unable to travel to the hospital so I went down to be with him. It quickly became apparent that he was not going to recover so the staff spoke to me about organ donation.

As a family we discussed the issue and decided it would have been something he would probably have wanted to do. The whole process, from first discussions to the letter arriving telling us of the recipients of his organs, it could not have been carried out with any more care, respect or dignity.

“I think for lots of people the biggest issue in signing up is that people they don’t want to think about their own mortality… they may not understand all the processes and checks that are carried out. I also think that people believe they will not be given all treatments and interventions if they are on the register but that’s just not the case.”

Anne Moar
Speech and Language Therapy technical instructor
Astley Ainslie Hospital

“I have carried an organ donor card since passing my driving test in 1980 and then went about checking I was still on the register in 2003.

“In 2002 my daughter received a kidney transplant which drove home the need to check all my details were correct and that I was on the official register. It made me want to be sure my wishes were adhered to regarding donation and I wasn’t sure if carrying the card was the best way.

“Many of us have good intentions regarding such things as signing up to the organ donor register but we just don’t get around to it. The easier the sign up process, the better.

“If someone was unsure if they should sign up I would ask them to think about what it means to them to save a life. Being a potential donor is like being someone’s guardian angel or hero in waiting. Sign up and you know you will feel good about yourself!”

Jo Wilson
Staff nurse in Psychiatry
St John’s Hospital

“I joined the organ donor register when I was about 18.  I had watched a documentary about the lack of donors versus the demand for donor organs and remember feeling very angry and impotent about the fact that people die for lack of a transplanted organ, when more would be available if people just joined the register.

“I understand that for some it’s natural to feel a certain ‘squeamishness’ about organ donation, and it is, of course, very upsetting to think about the death of a loved-one and of their body not being intact after death.

“There may also be an irrational fear that, perhaps if someone is on the register, less may be done to save their life in the event of illness or accident as they will be seen as a source of donor organs.

If it were you, or a loved one, whose life could be saved or improved by a transplant, how would you feel knowing that perfectly good and healthy organs are wasted every day, and people die as a direct result of this?”