The Gift of Life, Holly Shaw — Battlefront. You're Already Involved

ABOUT

The Gift of Life

Holly Shaw

Did you know that 1000 people die every year because of the shortage of organ donors in the UK?

My campaign

My campaign will raise awareness of organ donation and encourage more people to think, talk and do something about it. By educating people, and clearing up common misconceptions about Organ Donation, I hope to get more people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register and potentially save and transform the lives of others like myself.

In 2005 I went on the kidney transplant waiting list after a sudden illness caused kidney failure. I was kept alive by a dialysis machine which I was attached to 3 times each week, and was put on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. For many others on the waiting list dialysis isn’t an option – for them an organ transplant is a matter of life and death. Waiting was tough! However I have been lucky and recently received my gift of life, my story has a happy ending but for others this is not always the case as there is still a major shortage of Organ Donors in the UK.

I am determined to keep campaigning and fighting for the people still waiting on the transplant list.

My Campaign highlights

- Getting words of support from Gordon Brown on the number 10 website, here: http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page18965
- My campaign being the second most retweeted tweet in the world on April 7th!
- Putting on my Donor Day and getting thousands of sign-ups to the NHS Organ Donor Register
- Working with Oli Barrett and Amy MacClaren – my inspirational mentors!

How can you help?

- Get in touch if you are affected by Organ Donation and Transplantation and want to join the campaign
- Sign up to the organ donor register by clicking on the image below
- Watch the video I've made that shows the big difference organ donation can make in someone's life by clicking here
- JOIN MY FACEBOOK GROUP

SHOW YOUR SUPORT

YOUR COMMENTS

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Thanks Imogine, hope your Mum is keeping well at the minute. Just to let everyone know, the documentary will be on Channel 4 at 11.30am on Thursday 14th May! Join the Facebook Event here: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=101027565277&ref=ts to show your support! Thanks

Holly Shaw, 09 May 2009 21:43

hi holly. just wanted to congratulate you on your sucess with the organ donar recruiting day. i signed up to be an organ donar when i found out that my mum would need a liver transplant because of the diese she has. i think everyone should do it. it costs you nothing and someone else can gain so much. so thanks

imogine, 07 May 2009 22:17

Hi Holly, I'm sure you wont let the nasty comments against all transplant recipients won't stop you doing what you want to do. Good luck with it all

jason dustiner, 07 May 2009 11:53

Comments like your Jason, really spur me on.. it's great to know I have so much support! Can't wait to hear peoples thoughts on the programme! I haven't seen it myself, I will see it when you do! x

Holly Shaw, 07 May 2009 11:33

Hi Holly, Can't wait to see the programme on the 14th & 15th, will be watching!! Congratulation on the campaign it is fantastic what you are doing and we are all behind you despite what one person said! Oh well 1 crazy person out of the thousands and thousands who are behind you isn't bad. You simply are a star Holly and you look so well after your transplant, hope everything continue to go well for you and the campaign goes from strength to strength which with people like emily helping I'm sure it will.

jason dustiner, 07 May 2009 11:28

Thanks Darren, much appreciated! My programme is on on the 14th May, I will also appear in the 15th May programme too! Take care and thanks for your support! x

Holly Shaw, 05 May 2009 19:04

i hope the campaign goes really well, we will be watching what we can of battlefront on the tv when it hits our screens lots of luck darren

darren smallwood, 05 May 2009 17:55

"A mentioning of 'happy endings' should removed for truth's sake." Well Kate, i do not get involved very much in debates, as i am just happy to be alive, and if people want to argue that i don't deserve to be then so be it, but the above comment or quote should NOT be removed!!! when you hav waited for years for a transplant and you get that call and you can then carry on a near normal life then yes it is a "HAPPY ENDING", for 4 times a day i had to attatch myself to bags to do dialysis, i had to change dressings so i didnt get infected, i was not allowed to drink or eat more than 700 mls of fluid, on christmas day i had to decide whether to have a full cup of tea in the morning if i was having gravy and sauce on my pudding with drink, where as you wouldnt have even thought about it, and actually transplant patients put on weight as they have lost so much due to being ill before hand, and who are you to critisise someones family, is everyone in your family perfect? I had a moon face from steroids, but was under weight, so how do you explain that one? transplant patients are not stupid, we all understand the affects of aour medications, this campaign is about raising awareness of organs that go to waste, not about the medication side affects, as transplant patients thats our choice if we wish to take that risk, and the weight gain is only in the first couple of years, it isnt ever lasting. Everyone in this world is entitled to an opinion, but when you get personal about people you no nothing about that then becomes a different issue,Holly obvioulsy has an amazing family asi do that have stood by us through every part of being ill,not every family member is a match you know? or had you not learnt that fact yet? Its ashame that people like you have nothing better to do with yourselves, such lonely people. Keep up the good work Holly, you are doing a great job, and the people that realise what an important subject it is are behind you all the way darren

darren smallwood, 05 May 2009 17:31

Firstly i would like to thank Holly for doing something so amazing, and trying to raise awareness, as i know there are people for and against this subject. I became an organ donor when i applied for my driving licence and the question was on the form, i knew my parents were and didn't hesitate, little did i know that the man i would fall in love with 8 years later would be a man who had already recieved a transplant, granted they do not last forever, but why are some people being so negative about it? Kate for instance, if you were given the choice of a life dictated by a machine either every day, or at hospital 3 times a week, or a transplant that may last a few years but give you an amazing few years? what would you chose? These people that say such silly things or nasty things obviously don't know anyone close enough to understand just how important organ donation is, my partner has had 2, his first off the register,(18 years ago) and was not a perfect match, and was for another person but as she could not get to the hospital in time it was offered to my partner, and it was a risk, at that point he was the youngest person in staffordshire to have a kidney transplant, he said yes to it, and got a amazing 15 years from it, from age 17-32, so it lasted a good time and was not a "FREAK OF NATURE" plenty of people have organs that last that long. Some people on here have written that people who recieve a donor are silly for saying it has changed their lives? why? its true, it really does, and that chapter in their lives has ended happy, to go from dialysis 4 times a day, restricted to 700ml of fluid a day, restricted diet, weight loss so bad you are malnourished, being sick on a daily basis, not being able to urinate, not being able to have a full day out with family and friends due to getting tired,and having to go home for dialysis, it is no life, but one thta they live with and are grateful for, so to see such nasty comments on here is just uncalled for, really do some of you people have nothing better to do, maybe if you go away and learn about the subject a bit more you will understand, rather than just chose to hurt people with horrible comments, lets just hope nobody you care about in life ever needs a transplant. what would you do then?

louise, 05 May 2009 17:15

Ok enough said everyone, lets not waste any more time or energy on negative comments. If I do know Kate personally she is welcome to get in touch with me and we can talk further about the problems she has with my campaign and Organ Donation in general. I think everyone has made their points and I don't want people visiting this page to see a continuous stream of negative comments, Thanks everyone.

Holly Shaw, 05 May 2009 10:56

I can't belive kate you said that, i've had 2 transplants, well 3 if you count a heart and a double lung transpalant) and a kidney transplant, i would have been dead by the age of 4 if i wouldn't have had a heart and double lung transplant. I agree with Mike holly you need to look very closly at your friends, seems to me that they know you very closly.

Laura, 05 May 2009 10:54

Can I also point out that far from "disfiguring the body" the surgeons treat the body and organ removal process with utmost respect. Why wouldn't they,when the person is saving or helping to improve the lives of up to 14 people? If you want an inside view of the organ retrieval process, see the link to the blog of this surgeon: http://www.scalpelsedge.net/2008/12/organ-donation-from-the-inside/

Jen, 05 May 2009 09:37

Thanks for your supportive comments, I'm not going to let Kate's comments or any other negative comments for that matter stop me campaigning about something so important and something I feel so passionate about! Everyone affected by organ donation knows it is a positive and life changing thing...

Holly Shaw, 05 May 2009 09:29

So Kate what you're saying is that this baby should die rather than be given the gift of life? http://www.lltgl.org.uk/life_stories/gabriela_filarowski.php

Incredulous, 05 May 2009 09:24

Kate...your comments sadden me. I cannot understand your hate for Organ Donation. Your "proof" seems to be based on random statistics which mean nothing in reality. I am a double lung transplant recipient. True, I may not have a "normal" life expectancy. But without my transplant, I would have died years ago. It saved my life. It has allowed me to get married, to work, to do a billion things I would never have been able to do. My quality of life now is so much better than before, it is unrecognisable. Trust me, to those who receive organs, to those like myself who are only alive today thanks to organ donors, that means much much more than any twisted statistics you may hurtle across. You are not telling some truth that has been hushed up - I can't understand why you are so convinced that you are when the people who are actually living this experience - donor families, those waiting, and recipients, are telling you otherwise. Perhaps time to listen to the people who have actually been there, done that.

Emily, 05 May 2009 09:22

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