The charity Give a Kidney, in partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant, are officially announcing the 500th non-directed living kidney donation in the UK.
This means that more than 500 people have helped save the life of stranger by becoming a living kidney donor, and to mark this milestone NHS Blood and Transplant and partner charities like BKPA are now calling for more people to consider saving lives by donating to a stranger. Altruistic donors are especially valuable because they can generate transplant chains, where up to three kidney transplants are triggered thanks to the generosity of one stranger.
Fiona Loud, Policy Director at the British Kidney Patient Association, said: “The generosity of living donors is absolutely fantastic; we and the patients we support are very grateful for the gift of life which organ donation gives. The altruistic programme has transformed lives by giving more kidney patients the chance of a transplant and we are delighted that this important milestone has been reached. We hope it will continue to encourage more living donors and more kidney transplants.”
This key moment was reached in September this year, but for various reasons I was unable to add it to the site. Better late than never.
