Registering is the only way you can be sure your wishes will be carried out. Your registration is held on the central NHS database so healthcare professionals will know your decison to be or not to be a donor. If you register to be a donor your registration will record exactly what organs and/or tissue you want to donate.
Organ donation ultimately gives the gift of life to someone else, if you decide to be a donor your registration is the first step in you being able to give that gift. A transplant is for many patients the only chance they have to survive. Without a kidney transplant, patients starting dialysis at 40 years of age have only a 50% chance of reaching their 50th birthday.
Once you register, it’s important to tell those closest to you and make them aware of your decision. The number of families who agree to organ donation almost doubles when they’re aware their relative had signed the register.
