Donor Dads Give The Gift Of Life, UK

Main Category: Transplants / Organ Donations
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 08 Jun 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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Almost a thousand 'donor dads' have given their son or daughter a new lease of life since living organ transplantation began in the UK.

Figures released by UK Transplant for Father's Day 2007 (17 June) show that 965 dads - and counting - have donated a kidney, or part of a lung or liver, to save their child since the first father-to-child transplant in May 1969.

In the last year alone 91 dads donated in this way, including father of two Colin Meikle from Glasgow, who gave a kidney to six-year-old daughter Katrina in February.

Colin, 39, said: "Katrina was diagnosed with renal failure in early 2006 and had her transplant a year later. Living donation was mentioned quite early on and we knew that it would probably offer Katrina the best chance, so I was over the moon when we found out that I was a match for her.

"The effect of the transplant on Katrina was amazing. She was very listless before the operation and found it hard to play or run around, but these days she is full of energy. She went back to school a few weeks ago and is really enjoying herself.

Colin added: "I'm very well too. It's a major operation, but I was out of hospital and back to normal life quite quickly. I'm a keen cyclist and I was even back on my bike within a couple of weeks."

Stories like Colin and Katrina's are becoming increasingly common as more people opt for living kidney donation in a bid to give their loved ones a new lease of life.

At a time of record need for organs from deceased donors, and an average waiting time for a kidney transplant of 2.5 years, living donation offers patients a shorter wait for their transplant, and important medical benefits. These include less time spent on dialysis, as well as a greater likelihood of a successful tissue match between blood relatives.

Last year, 690 people became living kidney donors, of whom most were either parents or siblings of the patient. The operation is highly successful and poses minimal risks to donors, since a healthy person can lead a normal life with only one kidney.

Despite these successes, however, the majority of patients still depend on a deceased donor for their lifesaving transplant. More than 9,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant but the desperate shortage of donors means that fewer than 3,000 operations can be performed each year. About 400 die each year while waiting.

It remains vital that more people record their wish to donate after their death by discussing their wishes with their family and joining the NHS Organ Donor Register.

* You can find out more about organ donation and join the NHS Organ Donor Register by telephoning 0845 60 60 400m or visiting www.uktransplant.org.uk

1. Case studies of fathers who have donated to their children are available on request.

2. The first UK father-to-child transplant was a kidney transplant, performed on 15 May 1969. Since UK Transplant records began, 929 fathers have donated a kidney to their son or daughter. Additionally there have been 31 father-to-child liver transplants and five father-to-child lung transplants.

3. UK Transplant has invested more than £14million since 2001 in hospital-based programmes to increase opportunities for donation and widen access to transplants for patients who need them. The programmes include 25 living kidney donor schemes, which enable a patient to receive an organ from a living friend or relative.

4. The number of living donors (of all types) has increased by 77% since 2001/02 and grew by 17% between 2005/06 and 2006/07. This growth has occurred against a background of increasing demand for transplants, a shortage of deceased donors, and an average waiting time for a kidney transplant (from a deceased donor) of approximately 2.5 years.

5. The NHS Organ Donor Register is the confidential, computerised database that holds the wishes of millions of people who have decided that they want to leave a legacy of life for others after their death. The register is available to authorised medical staff 24 hours a day and is used to establish whether a person wanted to donate and if so, which organs. More than 14.3 million have currently joined the register, including 1.1 million who signed up during 2006/07.

6. UK Transplant is the NHS organisation responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. It is part of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), a Special Health Authority within the NHS that manages the National Blood Service, Bio Products Laboratory, and UK Transplant.

http://www.uktransplant.org.uk

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