More than 100 people are desperately waiting for an organ transplant in Bradford this Christmas.

One hundred and three adults and five children are today hoping to receive the life-saving call to say a donor organ has become available.

This Christmas, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is urging  people throughout the city to sign up to the organ donor register.

Dr Paul Cramp, clinical donation champion and intensive care unit consultant anaesthetist at the Bradford Royal Infirmary, said:

“Organ donation is seen as a gift of life. One organ donor has the potential to save seven lives, which is an incredible gift.

”This Christmas, I would urge people throughout the city to sit down and talk about organ donation with their families and loved ones, so that your wishes are clear.

“Please think about joining the organ donor register to give the gift of life to someone after you have died.”

In Bradford1 there are currently:

• 93 adults and four children waiting on a kidney transplant
• Two people waiting for a heart
• One adult and one child waiting for a lung transplant
• Five adults waiting for a new liver
• Two people waiting for a kidney and pancreas transplant

And in a turnaround the rate of donations taking place at the Bradford Royal Infirmary has dramatically increased.

Since the start of 2010, the Trust has seen five cadaveric donations2 to date – four of which have taken place since July. The news comes after the Trust set up their own organ donation committee earlier this year to try to increase awareness of transplantation and to boost the number of donors, after it was revealed only seven organ donations had been made since 2005. The donation rate from the Trust previously averaged little more than one per year.

Dr Cramp said: “We are so grateful to these people and their families who have donated their organs.

“They should be comforted by the fact that their generous donations have gone on to save the lives of at least 11 people.”

This year in Bradford 17 people received a new kidney, three received a new liver, and two were given double lung transplants.

Jayne Fisher, the organ donor co-ordinator for the Yorkshire Organ Donation Service Team who is based at Bradford Royal Infirmary where her role involves liaising with families, added: “Despite the fantastic turnaround and news that we have received five donations this year at the BRI it is tempered with the fact that three people die each day in the UK waiting for the transplant which never comes.

“We also urgently need more people from the South Asian community to join the organ donor register as this section of our population has to wait longer for a suitable match to become available.”

Jayne explained that 98% of the population say they would take an organ if they needed one but only 28% are on the NHS Organ Donor Register.

She continued: “So if you believe in organ donation, please prove it this Christmas and register today.

“There are 108 people in Bradford today who need transplants – think about what it is like to be in their position.

“I hope that families in the city will sit down and talk about donating their organs to a loved one. They are no use to you when you are dead but they can have huge benefits to the living.”

To join the organ donor register, or to read the leaflet Organ Donation and Religious Perspectives, go to www.organdonation.nhs.uk, or phone 0300 123 2323. If you would like to read the leaflet “Organ Donation and Religious Perspectives” please contact the number above.