120,000 join the donor register
120,000 people have signed up to the Organ Donor Register this week. ITV's From the Heart campaign has taken place during the week of Valentine's Day to raise awareness of organ donation.
Latest ITV News reports
From the Heart: Organ Donation around the world
Keeping transplant patients alive until a donor can be found
Every day in the UK three people die waiting for an organ transplant.
Each day this week on ITV News in our series From the Heart we have been highlighting how many lives could be saved if the desperate shortage of organ donors across Britain was ended.
ITV News Medical Editor Lawrence McGinty is at Papworth Hospital and has been speaking to transplant surgeons about a device which helps keep transplant patients alive until they receive a donor organ:
Find out more about organ donation and sign up to the register here.
Organ Donor Register boosted by 120,000 this week
Since the launch of the From the Heart campaign on Monday 120,000 people have signed up to the donor registry.
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'From The Heart' focus on medical technology
In the latest in ITV News' series of reports, From The Heart focuses on the extraordinary medical technology that keeps patients alive - while they wait for the heart transplant they so desperately need.
As ITV News' medical editor Lawrence McGinty reports from Papworth Hospital, the shortage of donors means that it is sometimes a long wait:
Vincenzo Avanzato: The singing heart patient
Vincenzo has been transformed from a patient so sick he could not wash his face to a man who strides confidently with a gleam in his eye.
Read the full storyFrom the Heart: Organ Donation around the world
A look at organ donation rates around the world and how the UK compares.
Read the full storyAlexandra Burke tells of mother's wait for kidney donor
As part of the ITV1 special 'From the Heart' X Factor winner Alexandra Burke described how her family kept her mother's illness from her during the 2008 final of the X Factor.
Alexandra's mother Melissa needs a kidney transplant, and spends 8 hours a day on a dialysis machine, as she waits for one.
The severe shortage of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic organ donors mean that donors from these communities have to wait three times longer to get the transplant they need.
Join the organ donor register here.
More: Donor shortage means ethnic minority groups have to wait longer for transplants
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Pixie Lott adds her support to organ donor campaign
Tune into itv1 now, #haveaheart such a brilliant cause ????????
From @pixiesongs on Twitter:NHS organ donor website 'overwhelmed'
The NHS website where people can register to be organ donors is experiencing difficulties due to an "overwhelming demand" from people watching the ITV 'From the Heart' Tonight special.
Our website is currently struggling with people wanting to register. You can text SAVE to 84118 #fromtheheart
From @NHSOrganDonor on Twitter:Please bear with us, there is an overwhelming demand on our website. You can also call 0300 123 23 23 to register #fromtheheart
From @NHSOrganDonor on Twitter:From the Heart: A Tonight Special
In a one hour special the Tonight programme investigates the lives of the 10,000 Brits on waiting lists for an organ transplant.
Read the full storyPublic divided on 'presumed consent' organ donation
Public opinion is firmly divided on whether organ donation should be opt-in, as it currently is in the UK, or opt-out, as it is in many other European countries, according to an ITV News poll by ComRes. Older people are more likely to agree with the current 'opt-in' system.
- 44% agree with the current system: it should be presumed that people have not agreed to donate their organs, unless they have opted to do so.
- 42% think we should adopt a system were consent is presumed: people's organs should be donated, unless they have expressly opted-out of doing so.
- Among those aged 65 and over, 50% think organs should not be donated unless consent is expressly given.
ComRes surveyed 2,055 people.
More: Half of population say family should decide on organ donation