SOME gifts are more important than others. And the gift of life has to be the greatest of them all. All of us are free to donate such a gift, secure in the knowledge that in the event of our death someone in medical need will benefit from our generous deed.

Although the number of donors is on the rise, the NHS points out that almost everyone would accept a donated organ, yet only about a third of us have joined the Organ Donor Register. You don’t have to be a transplant doctor or an expert in medical ethics to realise that doesn’t add up.

More of us need to sign up to the donor register if the system is to function properly and humanely.

Not everyone wishes to take such a step, and those who harbour objections for whatever reason are free to abstain. But those who do sign up can help to transform the lives of other people.

Patricia Beedle from York knows this more than most. At the age of 47, her life has been turned around after a pioneering double pancreas and kidney transplant. Previously her existence was so restricted that she slept for up to 22 hours a day. Now, as she says, she is back to normal and has a second chance at life, even eating an Easter egg for breakfast on Easter Sunday – something that previously would have been an unthinkable treat.

Such an uplifting story might inspire more of us to sign the register. This cause has always been close to this newspaper. In 2010, the Lifesavers campaign organised by The Press encouraged more than 13,500 people to join the organ donor register.

It would be heartening if even more did so after reading today’s story.