There are 7,900 people waiting for transplants, the highest number in a decade, and 280 of them are children. Last year 400 people died before organs were available.
Losing a child is the most terrible tragedy that can befall a parent. But Amy Anderson has found consolation in hearing her daughter’s heart beat in another girl’s chest.
And her story shows why organ donation is the greatest gift anyone can give. Young Mia would have been 13 now. But she died aged just 10 in Addenbrooke’s Hospital following an asthma attack in 2022. Amy and partner Carl offered her organs to help others – and that meant four people are alive today who would otherwise have died.
They include five-year-old Grace Westwood who received Mia’s heart. The little girl gave Amy a teddy bear that plays a recording of Mia’s heartbeat when squeezed. It has been a great comfort in the mum’s darkest moments. Amy will never stop missing Mia, but she knows the decision she made was the right one. And one that Mia would have wanted.
There are 7,900 people waiting for transplants, the highest number in a decade, and 280 of them are children. Last year 400 people died before organs were available. That is partly because only 1 in 100 of us die in circumstances that are suitable for our organs to be used.
You can never know whether you might be one of them. But it is essential for your family to be aware of your wishes in case you are. The good news is that, thanks to donors making that choice, 100,000 lives have been saved since the NHS Organ Donor Register was set up 30 years ago. It costs nothing to register your willingness to donate. But the gift of life you could offer others after your death is priceless.
Kick the habits
Addiction comes in many forms. From dependence on alcohol or drugs to compulsive gambling or shopping. There are even Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous groups. Computer gaming has now joined this list with the NHS National Centre for Gaming Disorders there to treat mostly young people.
But addiction therapy is woefully inadequate in this country and services are painfully thin on the ground. Few addicts recover without professional help – which is why Health Secretary Wes Streeting must make improvements a part of his 10-year plan to reform the NHS. Addiction ruins lives. But with the right treatments in place, it can be overcome.
Flipping errors
Bosses at Netflix take words so literally that when “flipping Nora” popped up in the Wallace & Gromit Xmas special they wanted to know why she was being flipped. Good job they didn’t see Gavin & Stacey. They’d have thought Nessa’s “tidy” was an order to pick up rubbish.
