Share your wishes with your loved one this Organ Donation Week, 7 – 13 Sept
Throughout this Organ Donation Week (7 – 13 September) we’ll be passionately promoting the priceless benefits of the Gift of Life. The annual awareness raising event is the first since the law around organ donation in England moved to an opt-out system; to allow more people to save more lives.
All adults in England will be considered as willing to donate when they die, unless they have recorded a decision not to donate, are in one of the excluded groups or have told their family they don’t wish to donate. Adults covered by the change will still have a choice whether they want to be an organ donor and their families will still be involved before organ donation goes ahead.
It’s vitally important you not only register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register but share it with your family or closest friends too, to give them the certainty to support your decision at a difficult time. Please do take the time this week to have the chat with your loved ones.
You could save or transform up to nine people’s lives by donating your organs when you die and help even more people by donating tissue, such as your heart valves, skin, bone, tendons and corneas.
Visit organdonation.nhs.uk to register your decision and find out more. The website contains a host of information including a fact checker that busts myths or misconceptions that exist around organ donation and useful tips on how to start your conversation with family and friends.