KAREN Miller was one of those people who would always go out of her way to help others. That didn’t change even after her tragically early death at the age of 47.

The popular hairdresser had a brain haemorrhage while at work in her hair salon in March, and died a day later.

But because she carried an organ donor card – and because she’d made her wishes clear to her family – her organs were donated to no fewer than five people. “The doctors still had to ask our permission, and it was still hard,” her husband Alan said.

“But I was never going to go against Kaz’s wishes. She thought that if her organs weren’t going to be any use to her, they might as well help somebody else.” There, in a nutshell, you have it: the reason why we continue with our long-running campaign to urge people to sign the organ donor register.

There are so many desperately sick people languishing on waiting lists whose lives could be transformed by a kidney or heart or liver transplant. Karen’s generosity has meant a new chance for four of those people (one of the recipients has sadly since died) – and if she hadn’t carried her card, and told her family her wishes, it wouldn’t have happened.

It wasn’t an easy moment when doctors asked for permission to use Karen’s organs, Alan admits.

“But it’s a good feeling to know that Karen’s helped these people,” he said. “She helped a lot of people when she was alive, and she’s helped more people after she died.”

Karen’s death, and her generosity of spirit, have already inspired more people to sign the register.

We hope readers touched by her story in today’s Press will consider doing the same.