Norfolk couple who received life-saving organ transplants urge people to become donors
520 patients in the East are still actively waiting for a lifesaving organ
People in Norfolk are being urged to consider becoming organ donors, as new stats show, since the creation of the NHS Organ Donor Register in 1994, more than 10,000 people in the East of England have had their lives saved by an organ transplant.
In the East of England, 363 patients received a lifesaving transplant from a deceased donor last year and 168 residents donated their organs after death.
Many of those had recorded their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register, but the waiting list for a transplant in the UK is higher than ever before, with 520 patients in the region still actively waiting for a lifesaving organ.
One family who know the last impacting of organ and tissue transplants are the Sweeneys, who live in Great Yarmouth.
David Sweeney received a life-saving heart transplant 29 years ago, and his wife Eileen, has had two cornea transplants, giving her 45 years of sight.
"I am so grateful to my donor and their family"
David suddenly fell ill out of the blue in the summer of 1995.
The 67-year-old says: “I was fit and active, and not aware of any health problems, I was running marathons. I was working in Australia and was about to board a flight home when I fell ill, I had had a stroke and didn’t know.
“Back home I went to hospital, and they weren’t sure what the problem was then discovered my heart wasn’t working properly, I had dilated cardiomyopathy and needed a heart transplant. I remember feeling really bad, awful and I wasn’t really sure what was going on, I was deteriorating.
“It was a big shock. I was extremely lucky; six weeks later there was a donor and I had the transplant. I felt the benefits very quickly, I could breathe, my colour came back. I am incredibly lucky to have not had any issues and to be well 29 years later. And my old heart was not wasted, I donated my heart valves.
“I remember saying bye to my family, I thought I might not make it through the operation. I said goodbye to Eileen and Chris and Carly were 9 and 7.
“It is great to have been able to be with the children, see them grow up and now they have children of their own, I am seeing my grandchildren grow up, we have family holidays – it’s amazing. I am so grateful to my donor and their family.
“I have been so lucky. I didn’t think I’d have 29 years with the heart transplant, I thought may be two years, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s unbelievable we’ve both been helped so much by donors, we wouldn’t have had the life we have otherwise. I hope it inspires people.
“It’s amazing the organ donor register is 30, I had my heart transplant in 1995, I’m very lucky the register had started, and people were more aware of donation and what it could do."
He has this message for anyone considering becoming a donor: "Please join the register, it’s so important because you’re going to give people and their families a life again. You can give someone a new lease of life and leave a legacy for your family.”
"To have 45 years of sight is just amazing and I am so so grateful"
Eileen, now aged 64, started to suffer with eye ulcers aged 10 after a virus. When she was 16 she lost most of the vision in her left eye, which was impacting her day to day. She had her first cornea transplant, aged 17, enabling her to live a normal life, meet and marry David, work, have children.
Her first cornea transplant lasted around 40 years then started to fail in 2018 but she received a second cornea transplant around six months later. Eileen says: “My cornea transplants changed my life, without full vision I’d have struggled to do my work as an administrator and it would have stopped me doing things, especially with Chris and Carly.
"I wouldn’t have had the confidence and life would have been stressful, my vision loss would have taken over. To have 45 years of sight is just amazing and I am so so grateful.
“Because of the selfless act of organ donation, I still have my husband. Almost 30 years ago my husband received the gift of a new heart. My children were 9 and 7. They got their dad back, I got my husband back.
“People need to realise how important donating is. That the Organ Donor Register is 30 this year is brilliant, it has made such a difference and I hope celebrating the milestone will make people aware of it and the need to register.
"I hope we inspire people to register – you would be making such a difference, if you donate you could give the gift of life or sight or both to people.
“Needless to say, we and all our family are on the organ donor register. We have chosen to donate everything that is suitable.”
"It’s more important than ever to register your organ donation decision"
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 520 patients in the East of England waiting for organ transplants, it’s more important than ever to register your organ donation decision and make it known to your family.”