‘Pass it on’

This week, Royal Mail is partnering with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to support Organ Donation Week and the ‘Pass it on’ campaign.

‘Pass it on’ aims to raise awareness of the upcoming law change in England around organ donation. From spring 2020, all adults in England will be considered to have agreed to be an organ and tissue donor when they die, unless they recorded a decision not to donate or are in one of the excluded groups.

The campaign encourages people to record their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and pass on their decision to friends and family.

Each year many lives are saved and transformed by organ donation. Six years ago, after his son Jack tragically passed away, South Shields postman Alfie Leggett and his family took the decision to donate Jack’s organs.

‘As a family we thought if we can help somebody suffering we should, because that’s what Jack was like,’ said Alfie. ‘He would have wanted that. He would have helped anybody. If he saw another child crying he would buy them sweets.’

Jack died from a brain tumour in December 2013 only two months after diagnosis. Jack’s lungs, kidney and liver were transplanted into three seriously ill patients, giving them a renewed chance at life.

After diagnosis, Jack was treated with radiotherapy five times a week for six weeks at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle and he had weekly appointments at the Royal Victoria Infirmary. Even when he was very ill he used to say 'Don’t worry about me. I was born for a reason.’

Alfie’s colleagues put a tribute plaque (pictured) on a bench at Marine Park in South Shields that reads ‘Born for a reason’ and features the Batman logo, Jack’s favourite superhero.

‘At the end of the day, it’s the hardest thing in the world to go through, but you have to think of the other people,’ said Alfie. ‘They are now going to live on and Jack is going to live on in them.

‘Organ donation is not going to bring people back, but it makes you feel you are helping somebody else. If Jack’s organs hadn’t been donated, other people who were suffering might not have survived and I take comfort from that. At the end of the day, you can’t take the organs with you.

‘I got a letter off one of the recipients. They said they can’t understand how much pain we are going through but they thanked us from the bottom of their heart. Getting a letter like that makes the decision all worthwhile. We are heartbroken, but to know this person has been saved is a wonderful feeling.’

NHSBT are asking everyone to record their organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, and importantly share this decision with family and friends. For more information about the change in law and to record your decision visit https://bit.ly/2Z625Rw.