THOUSANDS of lives have been saved across the region thanks to record-breaking numbers of people signing up to the organ donor register.

Figures released today by NHS Blood and Transplant show 682 people in County Durham, 947 in North Yorkshire and 2,817 people in the Tyne-Tees area are alive thanks to an organ donation.

The NHS Transplant Activity Report figures show the UK-wide number of people alive thanks to transplants has reached the milestone figure of 50,000.

The report also shows the number of people in the North-East signing up for the organ donor register has increased by almost a third over the past five years and a national record of 23.6 million people on the register.

Darlington mother Michelle Davidson, who faced losing her baby Tegan to a rare liver condition before her daughter received a liver transplant, last night spoke of her delight that awareness appeared to be growing about the importance of organ donation.

Ms Davidson has campaigned to encourage others to sign up to the register.

She said: “It was bittersweet for us because Tegan’s donor was actually a baby and obviously it must have been very hard for the donor’s family.

“We were celebrating Tegan’s life while they were mourning the loss of their baby. We are so incredibly grateful to them, it is a wonderful thing to do and it has literally saved Tegan’s life.”

Tegan, now 12, is living a full and happy life and has competed at the Transplant Games for the last five years and is always keen to heighten awareness of organ donation among her peers.

Ms Davidson said: “She is doing so well. To look at her you wouldn’t know what she went through as a baby.”

Sally Johnson, director of Organ Donation and Transplantation for NHS Blood and Transplant, said it was “amazing” to picture all the people alive thanks to organ donation, but warned there was still a shortage of donors.

She said: “We’re seeing more and more people committing to donation and the good results of our close work with hospitals. Our specialist nurses in organ donation are now almost always involved in discussions with families over organ donation.

“However there is still a long way to go. Around three people still die a day in need of a transplant. Every one of those people who died could be a mother or a father, a daughter or a son, who might be alive today.”

In recent years there has been an increased drive to encourage more people to sign up to the register, and debates have taken place about whether the system should be changed so that organ donation is assumed unless a person specifically opts out before death.

David Marshall, chairman of the National Kidney Federation, said although he was pleased with the number of donations after death, more still needed to be done.

He has asked the All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group in the House of Commons to hold a special Summit to consider this matter in November – which they have agreed to do.

Mr Marshall added: “In addition, we welcome the decision of the Scottish Government to begin legislation to introduce soft opt out arrangements and urge the Prime Minister to do the same in England.”

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