Be A Superhero - Save A Life, UK Transplant

Young people going to university for the first time this autumn are being given the chance to become a 'superhero' by signing up to save a life.

They will be invited at a series of student freshers' fairs to heroically pledge the 'gift of life' by joining the Organ Donor Register (ODR).

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), Organ Donation and Transplantation Directorate's 'Superhero' roadshow is hitting the road for the 3rd year running with a tour of 15 universities throughout the country.

The comic book-themed event aims to build on the success of last year's roadshow when 5,468 students joined the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Gareth Barham, aged 18, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, had a life-saving heart transplant on 22 December 2004, after a six-month wait.

He had suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy after being attacked by a mystery virus. Within weeks, he was hardly able to climb a flight of stairs and doctors told him a heart transplant was the only option.

Gareth, who is off to the Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, Kent, to study a three-year degree in stage management, said: "The transplant operation literally saved my life. My old heart wouldn't have lasted many more weeks.

"I never thought I'd need a transplant as I never had any medical problems before the virus attacked me. After having months of hospitals, drugs and not even being able to walk up and down a simple flight of stairs, the phone call telling me there was a heart waiting was the most incredible moment of my life.

"Without that heart, I would be dead by now, yet I'm off to university to study a physically demanding course, four years after not being able to get myself out of a chair. I cannot ever express how much gratitude I feel towards the donor and their family, they have given the ultimate gift."

Students visiting the Freshers' Fair roadshow will also be able to find out more about the http://www.superhero-me.co.uk online marketing campaign. Users of the web-based application can turn themselves into superheroes, join the NHS Organ Donor Register and spread the word by passing it on. And thousands have already done this since superhero-me was launched at the V Festivals.

NHSBT's Organ Donation marketing and campaigns manager, Angie Burton, said: "Students don't have to be able to run faster than a speeding bullet, have X-ray vision or climb buildings to become a superhero and help save lives.

"Instead, it takes another kind of superpower - but one that we all have within us - to use our generosity of spirit and give the 'gift of life' to help others to live on after our deaths.

"It does not take much to demonstrate this power; all we're asking is for students to join the 15.6 million other 'superheroes' who have already joined the ODR and to discuss their wishes with their families.

"More than 7,890 people in the UK are currently waiting for an organ transplant and the sad fact is that over 1,000 of them will die while waiting due to an acute shortage of donors.

"This is the sixth year in total that we have visited freshers' fairs and the third year running that we have used the ever-popular 'Superheroes' comic book theme.

"Young people are fantastic supporters of organ donation; 30% of people on the register were aged between 16 and 25 when they joined.

"We are hoping this year that record numbers will visit the Organ Donation and Transplantation stand and sign up to the NHS Organ Donor Register to give the gift of life."

The Superhero roadshow will this year visit the following universities:

- Liverpool John Moores, Tuesday, 16 September;
- Oxford Brookes, Tuesday, 16 September;
- Coventry , Monday, 22 September;
- Leeds , Monday, 22 September;
- Nottingham , Tuesday, 23 September;
- Manchester Metropolitan, Wednesday, 24 September;
- University of the West of England, Thursday, 25 September;
- Sheffield , Wednesday, 1 October;
- Brighton , Wednesday, 1 October;
- Bristol , Thursday, 2 October;
- Southampton , Friday, 3 October;
- Bournemouth , Saturday, 4 October;
- Exeter , Sunday, 5 October;
- Cambridge , Tuesday, 7 October;
- Durham , Tuesday, 7 October;

To find out more about organ donation and to join the NHS Organ Donor Register, please call the Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 , visit http://www:uktransplant.org.uk, or text the word 'LIVE' to 64118. Standard text rates apply.

Did you know?

- You are more likely to need a transplant than to become an organ donor.

- 30% of the people on the NHS Organ Donor Register are aged between 16 and 25 when they join.

- Today, there are 7,891 people registered for an organ transplant, including 175 aged 18 and under.

- Despite the thousands of life-saving transplant operations that take place each year, more than 9,000 people continue to wait for a transplant and over 1000 die while waiting.

- The NHS Organ Donor Register is a confidential database operated by UK Transplant that contains the names of more than 15.6 million people who wish to pass on the gift of life through organ donation after their death. This figure represents 25% of the total UK population. The register can be accessed by authorised medical staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to establish an individual's wishes for donation.

- The Human Tissue Act 2004 makes clear that the wishes of the deceased must be put first and where a person has expressed a wish to donate by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register, carrying a donor card or verbally or in writing to a family member or friend, NHS staff will do all they can to ensure those wishes are fulfilled.

- Last year, 3,237 people received the gift of life through organ donation, while a further 2,489 had their sight restored through a cornea transplant.

- Most organ donations come from people who have died while on a ventilator in a hospital intensive care unit. Organs, particularly heart and lungs, deteriorate very quickly without an oxygen supply and the ventilator is able to keep blood and oxygen circulating after brain death.

- Traditionally, organ donors have come from two groups: road accident and brain haemorrhage patients. Improved road safety and medical intervention mean that fewer people in both groups are dying.

- The number of living kidney donations has more than trebled since 1995 and now account for one in three of all kidney transplants.

- The Organ Donation and Transplantation Directorate is the NHS organisation responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. It is part of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), a Special Health Authority within the NHS.

UK Transplant