IKEA SHOPPERS URGED TO SIT AND CHAT ABOUT ORGAN DONATION
Retailer teams up with Organ Donation Scotland
Sofas in IKEA Edinburgh will be put to good use this weekend, as shoppers are encouraged to have a comfy seat and a wee chat about their organ donation wishes.
The Straiton Road store will host the national organ donation tour over the next two weekends, offering families who visit the IKEA Edinburgh Living Rooms Department free tea bags so they can chat over a cuppa.
With 600 people in Scotland waiting for a life-saving transplant, the tour will highlight how saying the seven words ‘I want to be an organ donor’ could save up to seven lives, and staff will be on hand to sign people up to the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Statistics show that over the past five years, almost two thirds (62 %) of organ donors in Scotland were not on the NHS Organ Donor Register at the time of their death, highlighting why its important to consider your organ donor wishes and talk them through with loved ones.
Marie Renwick, IKEA Edinburgh said:-
“We’re really excited to be working alongside Organ Donation Scotland on the upcoming leg of the nationwide tour. It’s a truly fantastic initiative that is close to many people’s hearts, both those working at IKEA and Scotland as whole.”
Professor John Forsythe, Scotland’s Lead Clinician for Organ Donation and Transplantation said:
“Organ donation means a tragedy has occurred but something positive can come out of that tragedy.
“Transplant is immensely successful. People who are very close to death can be transformed within a matter of a few weeks, and, for example one year after a liver or kidney transplant, 90 per cent of people will be alive and well.
“Therefore I would urge people to consider what they would want to do in terms of organ donation and discuss their decision and wishes with their family. That decision, and more importantly that discussion, could one day allow another person to live.”
Scotland continues to lead the rest of the UK, with 41 per cent of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register, compared to 31 per cent nationally.
However with three people in the UK dying every day due to not getting the organ they need in time, joining the NHS Organ Donor Register and sharing your wishes can save and transform lives.
Join the NHS Organ Donor Register at www.organdonationscotland.org.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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