Three people die every day waiting for a transplant. This National Transplant week (4 – 10 July), University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) is appealing for Birmingham residents to join the Organ Donor Register and help the Trust save more lives.

UHB has the largest solid organ transplantation programme in Europe, some of the most experienced transplant teams in the world and performs hundreds of transplants every year. However, specialists at the Trust are desperate for more people to sign up to the register.

There are currently more than 10,000 people (7,573 actively seeking an organ and 2,873 too ill to receive one) who need an organ transplant in the UK, but only around 3,700 transplants take place annually due to a shortage in organs.

Shockingly, despite being the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham has one of the lowest take-up rates in the country. Only 24% of people living in Birmingham are registered as potential donors, yet the city's multicultural population makes it one of the areas most in need of available organs.

People from Black and Asian backgrounds are three times as likely to need a transplant yet these communities are least likely to donate, meaning that hundreds of people die every year because there are no suitable organs available.

In Birmingham, around 180 Asian patients are waiting for a kidney transplant but only 2,248 Asians are on the national Organ Donation Register. Therefore, the chance of these patients getting the organ they need is greatly reduced.

Cathy Miller, a specialist nurse for organ donation, provides support and reassurance to donor families and ensures the donation process is carried out in a respectful way. Cathy witnesses on a daily basis how the families of donors take great comfort out of knowing their loved one saved a life after their death. She is eager to see more people join the register.

Cathy said: “Birmingham has a huge population but unfortunately has one of the lowest donation rates in the country, although, without suitable donors, people in need of a transplant will simply die.

“We have a fantastic team of experts here at UHB, but without people’s commitment to saving a life after theirs has ended, we cannot help those in need.”

But it is not just signing up to the register that counts; it's also important to make sure relatives are aware of a person’s desire to donate organs, Cathy explains: “About 18 million people in the UK have joined the Organ Donor Register, which is wonderful, but it's vital that people inform their relatives of their wishes or make reference to it in their will.

“We find that, even though a patient is on the register, the next of kin refuses to allow their organs to be used, which means the transplant teams are unable to use those organs to save a life.”

The Ferguson Family

Matt Ferguson died tragically in a car crash aged just 17. Although devastated by their loss, Matt’s parents Andrew and Gill are able to take some comfort in knowing that his death has helped save the lives of others, including a woman in York who went on to have a baby in July last year.

“Donation has been the only positive out of this tragedy. It has left us with a feeling that his life did not end there and then and his spirit lives on – believe us, you need all the positives you can find from a situation such as this.

“Through donation, Matt has helped so many people directly through specific organs, but potentially many more through the continuing research and development.

“The decision we made to receive updates from the co-ordinator was a very good one as we have learned first hand the direct impact Matt’s actions have had in dramatically improving the life of others.

“We have learned, the very hard way, how precious life is and how the gift of life to somebody is so important.

 "However tragic the circumstances, there can still be some positives for us and others.”

Matt donated his:

• heart
• liver
• pancreas
• kidneys
• bone
• skin tissue