Colleagues are invited to attend a special event during this year’s Organ Donation Week, where personal stories will highlight the life-changing impact of organ and tissue donation.
The one-hour event, The Power of Organ Donation, will take place on Monday, 21st September, from 14:00 to 15:00 in the CRH Learning Centre. The session aims to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation and encourage people to have conversations with their loved ones about their donation decision.
The event will be opened by our Chair, Helen Hirst, who also chairs our Organ and Tissue Donation Group, and our Clinical Lead, Paul Knight, will also be there to answer your questions. Around 8,000 people across the UK are currently waiting for a transplant that could save or improve their lives, including 76 within Calderdale and Kirklees.
Attendees will hear from Karen Piotr, whose husband Mark became an organ donor after his sudden death nine years ago. Karen said: “For many years we gave blood together and, on our journeys home, we'd often say 'If anything ever happened to me, they can have the lot.'
“Remembering that conversation gave me the confidence to say yes to organ donation. Because of that decision, eight people were given a second chance at life. This year at the British Transplant Games in Sheffield, I was able to hand a gold medal to one of Marks' recipients at the golf. He is Sheffield artist Pete McKee and he received Mark's liver and has learned to play golf knowing that Mark loved to play.
“To be able to share my story with CHFT colleagues in the hope that others will let their loved ones know of their organ donation decision makes me proud and happy.”
Also there will be our Liver Specialist Nurse, Caroline Winkley, and her daughter Ava, who received a liver transplant when she was just five years old. Ava has since gone on to represent Great Britain at every World Transplant Games, demonstrating the long-term impact that organ donation can have, not only on recipients but on their families, friends and wider communities.
Since April, seven families have consented to donation her at CHFT, helping to transform the lives of 18 people through organ transplants and many more through tissue donation. These donations have enabled life-saving lung, kidney and liver transplants, alongside sight-restoring corneal donations and other tissue donations.
Whether you have a personal connection to organ donation or simply want to learn more as part of your role, come along and hear from Karen, Caroline and Ava, whose lives have been directly touched by donation and transplantation.
The Power of Organ Donation
- Monday 21 September
- 2pm to 3pm
- CRH Learning Centre
To register your interest, please email CHFT@cht.nhs.uk, or simply come along on the day.