THE parents of a boy who died at the age of five told last night how his death gave continued life to others.

Ten years ago, Nicky Miller, of Coxhoe, County Durham, collapsed after suffering a brain haemorrhage while out playing.

He suffered a heart attack and stroke soon after and his life support machine was switched off.

However, his parents Lindsay and Karen decided to donate his organs.

The couple were inspired by a That's Life BBC Television programme about the Ben Hardwicke Appeal, which was for a youngster awaiting a liver transplant.

Mr Miller told BBC 2's Close Up North: "There was a little girl, same age as Nicky, got Nicky's liver.

"A three-year-old boy got Nicky's heart, and a 15-year-old girl and a 31-year-old woman got his kidneys.

"And, to this day, they are all doing very well, that I know of.

"So we are really pleased that Nicky has managed to help four people live a normal, hopefully happy, life.''

Mrs Miller said that she and her husband were on the organ donors' register and that nobody should be allowed to go against a donor's wishes.

The documentary revealed that, although Newcastle General Hospital has the highest rate of donors in the country, nationally the number of transplants has fallen in recent years.

The Government recently announced proposals to try to double the number of donors, following Alder Hey Children's Hospital scandal in Liverpool, in which the organs of dead children were kept for research without parents' consent.

Dr Ron Bullock, a consultant in the intensive care unit at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital, said: "The two things are very separate. One is about giving organs as a gift to preserve someone's life, the other is about keeping organs for research."

The programme also showed Richard Wanless, of Sunderland, having a kidney transplant operation for which he waited five years