Former kidney transplant patient Ashley Parker backs The Press’s Lifesavers campaign (From York Press)

Former kidney transplant patient Ashley Parker backs The Press’s Lifesavers campaign

8:04am Tuesday 15th December 2009 in

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ASHLEY Parker is a man with a zest for life – but he also knows only too well what it feels like to stand at death’s door.

And that is why the 27-year-old from York is backing The Press’s Lifesavers campaign to encourage more people to sign up as organ donors.

After suffering double kidney failure at the age of 24, Ashley was told he only had five years to live. With his prospects of a transplant looking slim because his rare blood group meant none of his family was a suitable match.

But the NHS Organ Donor Register saved his life by finding the donor he desperately needed – and whose name he will never know. Now the former barman is making the most of a chance he feared he would not be given by taking a course in business administration at York College as well as doing voluntary work for Future Prospects.

Ashley, of Acomb, is throwing his support behind Lifesavers, which aims to add 20,000 new donors to the register by the end of the next year, as well as raising awareness of the importance of the issue of organ donation.

We are also campaigning for the UK to adopt the “presumed consent” approach to donation, which would see people’s organs used routinely unless they explicitly objected while they were alive.

“There are many people who say they would be willing to become a donor, but for whatever reason – maybe it’s because of their busy lifestyles or because organ donation just isn’t something at the forefront of their minds – they never get round to seeing their GP about it or simply picking up the phone,” said Ashley, who hopes to pursue a career in journalism or events organising.

“A change in the law would make it easier for people to donate if they want to, so I am absolutely 100 per cent behind the aims of Lifesavers and I will do anything I can to support it. There are moral issues to consider, but I feel it is only a small minority of people who feel that way.

“And to get 20,000 new donors would be a massive achievement. Without a donor, I would not be here – somebody saved my life, but at the same time, around 1,000 people die each year because of the lack of organs.

“I have managed to come out the other side, but I just wish that would be the case for more people.”