On Monday 21st of October I am going to be gunged with rice pudding to raise funds to help with a friends medical travel costs as she has been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She lives alone, has no family and is on a reduced income. Even a small amount could help her in these coming months and as someone who had my life saved by a liver transplant, I want to show that I am using my second chance to fight for issues I care about.

On the 9th of August in 2016, I was desperately sick, and fully aware of the fact that due to the shortage of organs a transplant might not happen, and I might not make it. Every year hundreds of people die waiting for an organ transplant, and it was my wish that even if I didn’t receive a transplanted organ I didn’t want other families to go through what mine had.

I was dared to do a custard gunging and thought it was the perfect opportunity to draw attention to presumed consent. Presumed consent is not a panacea for the shortage of organs available for transplant, however if this law passed it would at least encourage conversations between families about organ donation something which is still rare to happen.

I didn’t think that anyone would be interested in seeing some girl holding a presumed consent sign being covered in custard. However, I’ve been blown away with 12,000 views and I hope that every time someone sees that video they might think about organ donation and maybe consider becoming a donor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBrn5rbrcl0

Two years later I’m in recovery but keen we don’t stop talking about organ donation. So as a close friend has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and is scheduled for a double mastectomy I decided to do a sponsored gunge to raise funds to hope with her travel costs. Although Macmillan does offer grants she is very proud and I know she won’t want to apply for one so anything raised I will have delivered anonymously.

Breast cancer is still a major killer and we must keep people talking about it. I hope that anyone who sees the new video will see how an organ transplant has saved my life and now I’m able to campaign for other important issues.

www.lucindaparkerroberts.com

In 2017 a stranger saved my life with a liver transplant after an autoimmune disease destroyed my own liver. I have made it my goal to encourage education in the home about chronic diseases and organ donation, and so have written three children’s books on the subject, the first of which I have now self-published on the Kindle.