It's been a while since I updated once again, life has been a bit hectic lately and I've been getting very tired so blogging has unfortunately suffered. I will definately post about all thats been going on since last time very soon, but today I want to discuss the recent negative stories about organ donation in the press.
On Sunday morning I heard the story on the news and my heart immediately sank. Some donors (those who signed up via their driving licence application) had their wishes recorded wrongly onto the system. Although they had given their consent for their organs to be used after their death, the information about which organs could be used had been wrongly listed. Obviously my heart goes out to those donor families that have been affected by this news. It must be very traumatic for them to hear and to inevitably relive the experience.
In my position it is always so gutting to hear of a negative story that may adversely effect people deciding to donate their organs. There have been conflicting reports in the papers and that doesn't help either, it is completely understandable that readers take it at face value and think "maybe donation isn't for me". Unfortunately what the papers in the most part dont show you is the thousands of people like me whose lives depend on organ donation, those who are waiting and dying everyday. It doesn't tell the public that 3 people waiting for an organ die each day because of the pure lack of donors. It doesn't tell you that you are more likely to need an organ than to donate one.
I want people to have both sides of the story in front of them and to make an informed decision. That is why when GMTV phoned and asked me to appear on Mondays show (yes, 2nd time in under a month!) I jumped at the chance despite feeling pretty rough. It gives the public another view, another side to the story. You can view my interview above.
The NHSBT service are contacting anyone effected by this error to ensure that the information they have is correct and complies with patient wishes. The mistake was made over 10 years ago and the new systems in place are working to prevent this ever happening again. See the link here for LLTGL's post on the basic facts of the story.
Please pass this post on to as many people as you can to give them an insight into what life is like being dependant on someone else to allow you to live. I really hope that the damage caused by this story will be limited and that people will still be willing to donate the gift of life that so many people are hoping for.
