Calls for more organ donors in the North East and Yorkshire
We're hearing more than a thousand people are currently waiting
A County Durham man is urging people to have a conversation about organ donation after his daughter's life was saved by a girl in South Yorkshire.
It comes as the NHS says 1,046 people are waiting for an organ in the North East and Yorkshire as transplant waiting list hits a UK record high.
New figures released today (Wednesday 9th July) by NHS Blood and Transplant reveal the stark reality that 8,096 patients in the UK were on the active transplant waiting list as of 31 March 2025 – the highest number on record.
Last year saw over 100 fewer deceased organ donors nationally, resulting in a 2% drop in life-saving transplants compared to the previous year. In the North East and Yorkshire there was a drop in deceased organ donors with 166 people donating after death compared to 220 the previous year.
In the North East and Yorkshire, 560 people received an organ transplant last year compared to 530 the year before.
Shaun Sidney is from Seaham and his daughter, Kayleigh Llewellyn, needed a new heart six years ago.
They are thankful for the family of a 19-year-old girl from Doncaster, who gave Kayleigh a second chance at life.
Shaun said: "It's like winning the lottery 10 times over. It's just the relief thinking 'thank you God, my daughter's going to be OK now.' That feel is just absolutely immense because while you're waiting, you're still in this tunnel and you're thinking that light isn't getting any closer. It's just absolutely amazing.
"We've managed to meet our donor family and we're very, very close with them now and the relief they give us. Kayleigh was 12 when she had her transplant and she's just turned 18. They get so much pleasure, so much joy in seeing Kayleigh growing up now and just a becoming a beautiful young lady now. It's just amazing.
"They've given my daughter a second chance at life. They get so much comfort watching Kayleigh grow. She just grasps life with both hands now and enjoys every day. She's just loving life and without the help of the donor family, we'd never have had that.
"She'll never be the same again but she can continue her life, she can enjoy herself, she can have children if she needs to. It's another lease of life.
"She'd never ever had any underlying problems. She was a keen footballer and just collapsed on the pitch one Thursday night. She was in a coma, her body started to shut down, she was in and out of operations 10-12 times and within a matter of days, she was a life support machine at Newcastle Freeman Hospital. The only thing that could save her was a transplant. Your world falls apart. It's unreal. It turns your life upside down.
"Just have that talk. Express your wishes to loved ones, family and friends because on the back of sadness becomes great, great joy for another family. They can save five or six people's lives. Just have that talk. It means so much.
"To me, this should be getting educated in schools across the country at an early age so children and people understand what's going on and what can blossom from great sadness."
Consent/authorisation rates across the UK 'remain stubbornly low at 59%'
Last year, a UK total of 173 families overruled their relative’s registered or expressed decision to donate.
In a further 520 cases, families did not support donation where the law presumes consent – meaning their loved one had not registered to opt out but also hadn’t expressed any decision.
The NHS says under the ‘opt-out’ system donation can still only go ahead with the family’s support, which is why it remains so important to have the conversation and leave your loved ones certain of your wishes.
And today, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, Anthony Clarkson, is urging people to take action by registering their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and having that vital conversation with loved ones.
He said: "We are facing an incredibly concerning situation where more people than ever are waiting for transplants, but fewer donations are taking place. Tragically, someone will die today waiting for a transplant and we urgently need more people to register their decision to donate and to have these vital conversations with their families.
“Last year, 60% of people who donated after death were on the NHS Organ Donor Register, which made those conversations with families so much easier. People are far more likely to support donation when they know it’s what their relative wanted.
“To truly reduce the transplant waiting list, we need to take action across all aspects of organ donation and transplantation. That means modernising the NHS Organ Donor Register, having more clarity about what the law change really means and investing in innovative technologies that preserve and treat organs to improve transplant success rates.”
The NHS added every day someone dies waiting for a transplant. Last year 463 patients died waiting, and a further 911 patients were removed from the transplant list due to deteriorating health and many of these patients would have died shortly afterwards.
Alongside urging more people to register their decision and speak to their families, the NHS is also working to modernise systems and invest in innovation to help improve outcomes and make more transplants possible.
To find out more, visit the NHS website, call 0300 123 23 23 or use the NHS app.