Thousands of people on the waiting list for a transplant hope they will soon get the gift of an organ. Health and Education Editor Barry Nelson reports

THIS month, NHS Blood and Transplant is running the Christmas List campaign, to draw attention to the thousands of people who are waiting for a transplant across the UK and to encourage everyone to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.

Sadly, not all of those waiting will get the transplant they need. New figures show 11 patients in Tyne and Wear have died while on the transplant waiting list this year, and their families will be facing Christmas without them.

Seven patients in North Yorkshire have died on the waiting list this year while 83 have received a transplant.

In County Durham and Darlington 31 have died on the list waiting for a transplant in the last five years while 52 have received a new organ this year.

In the Tyne and Wear area 90 people are waiting for a transplant while 51 patients have received a transplant already this year thanks to families agreeing to donate a loved one’s organs.

People supporting the campaign include Dr Sejal Kelkar, a consultant psychiatrist from Newcastle, who starting getting headaches and nausea in 2008 not long after the birth of her daughter.

In March 2009 she was diagnosed with kidney failure of unknown cause. Her husband and brother were both tested as matches but neither was a good match. A match was found from a deceased donor and in October 2010 Sejal had her kidney transplant at the Freeman Hospital.

The transplant has transformed her health and life. Now she can look after and enjoy being with her young children and work again. The experience also changed how she relates to patients, giving her more empathy.

Sejal was on the register before she needed a transplant. She says of organ donation: "It's the one gift that's completely in your hands. It's not expensive but it could change the life of not just the recipient but everybody around them. It's absolutely life changing. It's amazing what a stranger has done for me by donating their kidney. I can't thank them enough.”

The family of Sarah Burke from Sunderland, who took the decision to donate her organs after she died aged 17 from injuries when she was struck by a car. When she was only 15, Sarah and her sister Melisa had both come down stairs from the computer to tell their parents they had signed the organ donor register. Sarah’s kidney, liver, heart, colon and pancreas were donated.

Sarah’s mum Theresa, a nurse, says: “She was just a caring person, and if she wasn’t using her organs, she would have wanted other people using them. She was quite a quiet person but she was just growing into herself and gaining confidence. She was always very funny with a dry wit.”

Theresa and her husband Stephen, a machine operator, and sister Melisa, who is studying counselling, all made the decision to donate Sarah’s organs.

Theresa says: “It was very difficult to comprehend what was happening and it's difficult to take in now. But the thing that gives me comfort is to think that the decision to donate her organs has benefitted people in need. I think that just sums Sarah up really, and I think it’s lovely.”

Lynne Holt, is a transplant co-ordinator at the Freeman Hospital, who first became involved in transplantation 35 years ago.

Last Christmas Day, she helped one of her patients get a transplant.

Lynne says: “I see first hand how desperately my patients and their families wait for the phone to ring, which may mean an offer of a life saving transplant. I also see many of them die waiting for a donor organ. This is why I am totally committed to making a difference and am passionate about promoting the benefits of transplantation.”

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register, visit .organdonation.nhs.uk, call 0300 123 23 23 or text SAVE to 62323. Once you’ve signed up tell those closest to you that you want to donate.