Organ registration plea as 142 Kent people wait for life-changing transplant
120 people in Kent have died whilst on transplant waiting list in last decade, according to NHS Blood and Transplant
NHS Blood and Transplant have issued an organ registration plea as figures reveal 142 people in Kent are on the transplant waiting list.
Nationally the figure is more than 8000 people .
This organ donation week, NHS Blood and Transplant are encouraging people to opt-in to donating.
Lisa Goodger from Herne Bay decided to donate her fiancé's organs after he died in August, aged just 47.
Tim Sells, 47, died at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate after suffering a cardiac arrest working out in a gym.
Tim's liver and both his kidneys were given to patients waiting for a transplant.
Lisa said the decision to allow Tim's organs to be donated made sense, although the couple had never discussed the subject.
She said: “I had one of the donor cards many years ago, but we never spoke about it.
“It was a decision I made with his sisters and we all agreed. He didn’t need his organs any more but they were still perfectly fine, so why not help someone else?"
Most recent statistics reveal 120 people from Kent have died whilst waiting for a transplant in the last ten years.
Lisa, 50, said: “My advice to other families would be this:
“You know the pain you are going through because you have lost a loved one. Think of the people that need that organ, that might save their life and stop someone else going through this pain. The agony we are having to go through may help someone else.”
“Losing him was so sudden, we are all still in shock. It feels like we have been transported to a different life.
“The trauma affects everything, but you have to carry on, with all the pain and upset and overwhelm.”
Tim, who lived in Herne Bay, was a football coach for Whitstable Town FC and worked as a football development manager for Millwall FC.
He and Lisa were together for 15 years after meeting at the Monument pub in Whitstable, where she was working and he was a member of their football team.
“He knew a lot of people in many different communities and I have heard so many stories of how he supported people which has been really comforting" says Lisa.
It is advised to speak to your family if you wish to donate your organs.
You can register your decision to donate your organs online at https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-your-decision/.