Living lifesavers

Could you help save someone’s life... through living kidney donation?

In the UK, around 5,000 people need a kidney transplant to transform their lives, but due to a shortage of organ donors, hundreds of patients die each year waiting for a transplant.

Unfortunately, there are not enough kidneys donated from people who have died, so we need more people to think about making the incredibly generous decision to donate a kidney while they’re alive.

Across the UK, a humbling 700 people have donated anonymously to someone on the UK Transplant Waiting List. They sit alongside the many thousands who have donated a kidney to a family member or friend.

Desperate need

Andy Stamps (pictured) donated a kidney to a stranger when he was just 31.

“I am signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register, but there’s no guarantee I would ever get to be a donor
after I die, so I thought about doing it while I’m alive instead,” says Andy, who donated in 2016.

“Something triggered in my head that I could do something life-changing to help someone in desperate need.”

Following the donation, Andy received a letter from the lady who received the organ, "It made me cry to think that I helped someone do simple things we all take for granted, like going on holiday,” says Andy.

“I hope to meet her one day, but I am just happy that I have helped someone live a normal life.”

Find out more if you are considering becoming a living kidney donor, and watch our videos