Selby residents urged to get a donor card

The Press’s Lifesavers campaign was launched following the death of 22-year-old Emma Young from Pickering who suffered from cystic fibrosis and died while awaiting a double lung transplant.

Now Susan Massey, whose sister Sylvia Marshall died of a brain haemorrhage aged just 53, has said she believes everyone should sign up to donating their organs to another in the event of their death.

Mrs Massey, 63, of Fairway, off Doncaster Road in Selby, said: “I think everybody should sign up to it. I think people who don’t want to donate their organs should have to opt out as you would get a lot more people doing it.”

She said her sister’s death was easier to come to term with knowing that her kidneys and her liver had saved the lives of two other desperately ill people.

At the time, Mrs Massey said: “It meant the world to me that this could happen. It made all our family feel so much better that some good could come out of our tragedy.”

Political leaders in Selby have also backed the Lifesavers campaign.

Coun Mark Crane, leader of Selby District Council, and Coun Steve Shaw-Wright, leader of the council’s Labour group, have both carried donor cards for many years.

Coun Crane said: “I strongly support The Press’s campaign to increase the number of organ donors and I would urge others to think seriously about if they want to get involved and support the campaign in a practical way.”

Coun Shaw-Wright said: “I fully support the campaign and I think it’s something that everybody should do, because if you were in the position of needing a kidney or a heart or a liver you would want someone to help.”

You can join the register by:

• Going online at organdonation.nhs.uk.

• Phoning the 24-hour donor line on 0300 123 23 23.

• Texting SAVE to 84118.

You can also join when you:

• Register for a driving licence.

• Register at a GP surgery.

• Register for a European Health Insurance Card.

• Apply for a Boots Advantage Card.