Ann Cable, a member of the London County Priory Group of the Order of St John who has organised the London ceremonies with NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Organ donation can clearly save lives and it is also vitally important to say thank you to the families whose loved ones have already donated their organs to assist others”.
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Each individual episode will focus on patients as they wait in hope for organs to become available for before their window for surgery expires.
A camera team captured the reaction of passers-by as the “patients”, played by actors, were spotted in locations across the capital including Oxford Street, Victoria and Westminster Bridge.
The shocking facts are this – three people die every day in the United Kingdom in need of an organ transplant, which is equivalent to a huge 21 people per week.
More than 6,000 organs were donated by over 2,000 donors as of early October, marking a record high after January’s ban prompted concerns about an acute shortage of organs, said Huang Jiefu, a former vice-minister of health and current head of the National Human Organ Donation and Transplant Committee.
With exclusive access to the Institute of Transplantation, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne over the course of six months, along with the patients and their families, Gift of Life offers an intimate insight into one of the most hard and heart-wrenching experiences most people will be fortunate enough never to have to experience. “But what we really need now is for the population of the United Kingdom to step up and join the organ donor register and donate if and when they can”, he said.
In a survey conducted by the National Human Organ Donation and Transplant Committee in 2012 in cities across China, 40 percent of respondents said that they were “uncertain” whether they are willing to donate, largely due to uncertainties about “whether their organs will be treated fairly and transparently”, according to Xinhua.
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As for why people who choose to register do so, 69% say they find it comforting to know their organs will serve a objective after they die, while 60% say they want to help someone in need.
