Lorraine McLeavy
Hull OD Team 6 km Heart-shaped run/walk for Organ & Tissue Transplant Week
Fundraising for WISHH (Working Independently to Support Hull Hospitals)
Story
Organ Donation Week this year is from 19th to 23rd September. This is the week we get chance to promote conversation around organ donation and the incredible impact it has on both recipients and donor families.
To encourage conversation around organ and tissue donation and celebrate the impact this has on others, we are running/walking a heart shaped route of approx. 6km. Many of us are doing a route in Beverley on Tuesday 20th September 2022 but please join us any time that week to complete your own heart shaped route where you live. Post it on social media (with the Just Giving link), and help us raise awareness and save more lives.
The money raised through Just Giving will go towards a very special and profound commission. A sculpture or installation to shine a light on the multifaceted nature of what it means to give and receive the 'gift of life' and the presence and absences this creates. It is to celebrate those whose lives have been renewed by donated organs; remember and thank those donors and families who gave this gift; and offer a place of inspiration to encourage more people to become donors.
Organ donation is known as 'giving the gift of life'. Every day donated organs and tissues offer gravely ill people a second chance to live, thrive and make their mark in the world. These organs and donors make the difference between life and death. One person's absence means, quite literally, another person's presence.
Right now there are over 6000 people in the UK waiting and hoping for a transplant. One organ donor can save or transform up to 9 lives and more donors are urgently needed.
The Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (HUTH) has one of the 12 Yorkshire regional teams, consisting of 3 Specialist Nurses and 2 Clinical Lead Consultants. These nurses give intensive support to families as they make extremely difficult decisions about donating loved ones' organs and tissues. The extended team also works to educate and encourage more donors to register and give the gift of life.
So, organ donation, 'Let's Talk About It'.