NHS urges families in Hucknall and Bulwell to have a heart-to-heart about organ donation this Valentine’s Day

While heart transplants have continued throughout the pandemic, with only seven per cent less in 2020-21 compared to the year before, the waiting list for a heart transplant has risen 85 per cent in the last decade, from 169 patients in March 2012 to 313 in March 2021.

It is more important than ever that families share their decisions around organ donation to save more lives.

Stephen Papp, 56, from Nottingham, received a heart transplant in 2020, thanks to a donor family saying yes while losing someone they love during the pandemic.

After experiencing chest pains in April 2018, the active and sporty grandfather of five was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and days later he was fitted with a LVAD. In 2020 the right side of his heart started to struggle too and he was placed on the urgent waiting list.

Stephen, a father of four, says: “Being told I had a heart problem was a hard thing to swallow, it was a massive shock.

"When I first went to hospital they didn’t know if I would make it through the night, then I was able to have the LVAD.

"I had some problems but it didn’t stop me, I went back to the gym, coaching, climbing, with the LVAD in tow.

“Then I had to be admitted again and added to the urgent transplant list. I tried not to overthink things, especially with Covid, and stay positive.

"I had challenges while I was waiting, sepsis and two cardiac arrests, and it was only my LVAD keeping me alive.

“My transplant has made a massive difference, with the LVAD I was held back but now I feel I can push myself again.

"I go to the gym, I am hiking and climbing. I love being active and want to do my activities and get outside as much as possible.

"I can’t express how happy I am. I am living my life and doing the things I really like.

"Because of my donor and their family, I get to spend time with my children and grandchildren.”

While families are more likely, and find it easier, to support donation when they know it is what their loved one wanted, only 43 per cent of the UK population have registered their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and just 38 per cent say that they have shared their organ donation decision with their family.

As part of this Heart-to-Heart campaign, NHS Blood and Transplant will be sharing a video by spoken word artist Adaya Henry to help encourage more people to have the conversation about organ donation..

You can watch the video here.

For more information, or to register your organ donation decision, click here, or call 0300 1232323.

NHS app users can also use the service to record, check or update their organ donation decision.