It has been revealed that four people on average annually in the Macclesfield constituency, have their lives saved by organ donors.

It is Organ Donation Week from September 23 to September 29 2024.

And NHS Blood and Transplant are marking 30 years of the NHS Organ Donor Register, which was created in 1994.

According to NHS Blood and Transplant, organ donation has saved nearly 11,000 lives in the North West, and more than 1,500 lives in Cheshire, in the last 30 years

NHS Blood and Transplant reveal that 'more than 120 lives' have been saved by organ donation in Macclesfield in that period.

While it is not an exact calculation, if you divide that by 30 years that equates to a rough average of at least four people per year.

Over 130 lives were saved by organ donation over 30 years in Congleton, and more than 160 in Crewe and Nantwich.

More than 2.6 million people in the north west have declared their willingness to donate their organs after death, with this writer being one of them.

You recieve a free physical card upon donation, but you do not need to carry it with you at all times. (Image - NHS)

Although organ donation has been saving lives in the UK since the 1950's, the NHS Organ Donor Register was created 30 years ago to promote the wider message of organ donation and allow people to record their decision to be a donor.

NHS Organ Donation Register said: "Only around 1% of people who die in the UK every year are usually able to donate their organs after death. Donors are typically those who have died in a hospital intensive care unit or emergency department due to brain injuries, cardiac arrest or other trauma."

"It is vital that everyone who wants to be a donor registers their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and talks it through with their families who will be expected to support their decision should the time come.

"Families are far more likely to support donation when they already know it was what their relative wanted. Almost 90% of people honoured their family members decision last year when they had either proactively registered their decision to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register or verbally expressed a decision to be a donor."

A registered nurse with over 30 years' NHS experience, Anthony Clarkson is director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant. (Image - NHS Blood and Transplant)

Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation, at NHS Blood and Transplant, says: "Every day across the UK there are thousands of patients and their families, waiting for that all important life-saving call. Yet, this is often only possible as a result of another family receiving some of the hardest news they might ever have to hear.

"The change in the law now means that it's assumed that when someone dies in circumstances where they could be a donor, that they agree to donate if they haven't officially opted out. However, no-one is automatically added to the Organ Donor Register. You still need to confirm your own decision and your family will still be consulted before donation goes ahead and will be expected to support your decision.

"With 850 patients in the North West [currently] waiting for organ transplants, it's more important than ever to register your organ donation decision and make it known to your family."

Macclesfield: For more information, or to register your organ donation decision, please visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.

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