BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Transplant survey 'positive step'

BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Transplant survey 'positive step'

BBC WALES

Transplant survey 'positive step'

A woman who has had multiple organ transplants has welcomed public consultation into potential changes to the way organs are donated in Wales.

A Welsh assembly committee is looking at whether a system of presumed consent could or should be introduced.

Allison John, 29, from Cardiff, who has had liver, heart and lung and kidney transplants, called it a "positive step forward".

Currently organs are only taken from people who have registered as donors.

Ms John, who was born with cystic fibrosis, received a liver transplant 12 years ago, after an 11-year-old girl died in a riding accident.

She had been waiting 16 months for the organ and described it as an "horrendous experience".

"It was only in the nick of time an organ became available," she said.

She then had a heart and lung transplant 10 years ago, and 14 months ago her father donated his kidney to her.


Any change to the law on organ donation must be fully thought through and take account of public concerns.
Jonathan Morgan AM

Ms John, who does voluntary work for the Kidney Wales Foundation, welcomed consultation as a way to "gauge public perception".