In the 30th year of the Organ Donation Register, there are 38 people in Halifax and Huddersfield waiting for a transplant.
Mamta Patel, 48, from Dalton, Huddersfield received her kidney transplant in 2011, following four and a half years on dialysis, which she had every other day.
Mamta said: “When I was undergoing dialysis I would hear people talking about the difference that organ donation would make. They said they could live a normal life, which I’d almost forgotten having been ill for so long.
“Being o negative, I doubted my chances as only around 1 in 7 people have my blood type. But I was very fortunate and will be forever grateful for the gift of organ donation, and a new life, by a family who made a difficult decision at what must have been the most tragic of times for them.
“My son Ricky, now 27, told me that he knew someone had made an important decision, giving me the gift of a good life. Since my transplant he’s himself on the Organ Donation Register, gives blood regularly and is also signed up to the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry (formerly The British Bone Marrow Registry).”
Whilst she was on dialysis, the team treating Mamta knew that having a sense of normality was important and they even arranged for her to have dialysis on holiday in Spain and India in 2010, when she went to visit her mum.
“I feel like I have a completely new life, and not like I’ve had a transplant at all. I like to jog and walk and can work normally too. I’m also able to work, supporting my family in our busy shop.”
Further information and advice is available on the Organ Donation website and you can also register your decision online. Alternatively, call the 24-hour organ donation line on 0300 123 23 23.
Top photo shows Mamta, left at a recent wedding.
Mamta is pictured in the bottom image with her son Ricky and daughter Bhrati.
