"I was rushed to hospital as a baby... then one incredible act saved my life"

Lucy was just a young child when she recalls being rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Her young life was saved by an 'incredible family' who enabled her to undergo an organ donation procedure.

Now aged 34, she was given a miraculous second chance at life after receiving a heart transplant as a young tot. She has since travelled the world and is fulfilling her dreams at university.

The student, who works and studies in Salford, has opened up about her transplant experience for Organ Donation Week, with a drive launched to encourage more people to sign up to the programme. Currently, there are over 850 people waiting for a transplant in the north west alone.

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The NHS Organ Donor Register has been helping to save lives for three decades. Since its creation in 1994, more than 100,000 people have had their lives saved, including almost 11,000 people in the north west of England and 4,700 in Greater Manchester.

But a new drive has been launched encouraging people to register their decision to donate their organs after death, with the waiting list for a transplant in the UK now higher than ever before.

Lucy had her life saved by a heart transplant when she was just a baby. As a small toddler she was rushed to hospital for the major procedure.

31 years later, she works and studies at Salford University, and is 'fit and well', entering her third year of a Theatre and Performance Practice undergrad course. She has also travelled the world and competed in the British and World Transplant Games.

Opening up about her experience, she said: "Luckily, I received my heart transplant quickly in spring 1993. I don’t remember much but I do have a vague memory of lying on my parent’s bed, sleeping or resting, and then being rushed off in an ambulance for my transplant.

“I have been very lucky, I wouldn’t be here without my heart transplant. Thirty-one years later I am here, very fit and well, currently about to enter my third and final year of a Theatre and Performance Practice undergraduate degree at the University of Salford. This can be quite a physical degree, so not only am I doing well to keep up with those fifteen years my junior, but over three decades post-transplant.

“I have moved around the country, held multiple jobs at the same time, socialised with friends and family, travelled to Australia, Canada and other places and competed in the British and World Transplant Games.

“My highlights of the last 31 years are definitely competing in Australia at an international level, going to Canada last month with university, being able to be busy with study and work and just being able to do normal, everyday things with my family and friends – go for meals, catch up – the things we sometimes take for granted.

“Amazingly the Organ Donor Register is younger than my transplant but great it has been around for 30 years, saving lives. I hope marking the anniversary raises awareness of organ donation and the difference it makes. If you’re in favour of donation then you can sign up to the Organ Donor Register – it only takes two minutes. Last but not least don’t forget to share your wishes with your loved ones.

“I don’t think I can put into words how grateful I am to my donor and their incredible family. Without them, I simply wouldn’t be alive today."

In the north west, 337 patients received a lifesaving transplant from a deceased donor last year and 126 residents donated their organs after death, the NHS revealed.

Only around 1 per cent of people who die in the UK every year are usually able to donate their organs after death. Donors are typically those who have died in a hospital intensive care unit or emergency department due to brain injuries, cardiac arrest or other trauma.

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, at NHS Blood and Transplant, says: “Every day across the UK there are thousands of patients and their families, waiting for that all important life-saving call. Yet, this is often only possible as a result of another family receiving some of the hardest news they might ever have to hear.

“The change in the law now means that it’s assumed that when someone dies in circumstances where they could be a donor, that they agree to donate if they haven’t officially opted out.

"However, no-one is automatically added to the Organ Donor Register. You still need to confirm your own decision and your family will still be consulted before donation goes ahead and will be expected to support your decision.

“With 850 patients in the North West waiting for organ transplants, it’s more important than ever to register your organ donation decision and make it known to your family.”

Last year in the UK, 4,651 people waiting for an organ transplant had their lives saved by the 1,510 deceased organ donors and their families who signed up to the register.

For more information, or to register your organ donation decision, please visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23. NHS app users in England can also use the service to record, check or update their organ donation decision.