A YORK woman who is waiting for a life-changing kidney transplant has welcomed a proposed law change which would boost her hopes of finding an organ donor.

People in England must currently join the NHS Organ Donor Register or tell a close friend or family member of their wishes before their organs can be given to another person in the event of their death.

But now a new parliamentary bill to change the system so that every person is treated as a potential donor is being proposed by Labour MP Geoffrey Robinson.

Wales already has such an opt-out system and it is being introduced in Scotland, and Mr Robinson’s Private Member’s Bill is set to be introduced today and voted on this autumn after it came sixth in a ballot allowing MPs to put forward their own proposals for debate.

The Press’s Lifesavers campaign in 2010, prompted by the death of Miss York finalist and cystic fibrosis sufferer Emma Young while waiting for a double lung transplant, successfully sought to increase the number of people on the Organ Donor Register.

It also called for a proper parliamentary debate on a switch to an opt-out system and many local people who were waiting for transplants or had undergone such surgery called for the switch. Karyn McColl, a 27-year-old woman from The Mount area of York, who needs a kidney transplant to get her life back on track after three years of dialysis, said yesterday that she would welcome the MP’s Bill.

She said it could transform her chances of resuming a normal healthy life and those of many others who had been waiting for a transplant for even longer than her.

She added that the numbers of patients with kidney problems and needing transplants was rising, partly because of the rise in the number of people with conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Andy Henwood, of Osbaldwick, who had a kidney transplant in 2011, said he would support Mr Robinson’s bill because it would force people to think seriously about organ donation, rather than ignoring the option. But he said it would need to be made very clear how people could opt out, as some people, for cultural or personal reasons, would not want to donate their organs.