NHS latest campaign highlights the stories of children waiting for life saving organ transplants

Young people waiting for a heart transplant will wait two and a half times longer than adults. One young girl, Dáithí, has been waiting for 2000 days. The NHS’s latest campaign, ‘Waiting to Live’, aims to highlight the need for young organ donors and to motivate parents to add themselves and their children onto the organ donation list to help children just like Dáithí.

There are over 230 children in the UK who are in urgent need of a lifesaving transplant. To tell their stories, with the help of Wunderman Thompson UK, the NHS have created dolls representing children on the waiting list. The dolls will be placed around the UK, encouraging passersby to hear their stories that are accessible via a QR code on each of their badges.

The decision to create ‘Waiting to Live’ came after research revealed only 52% of families approached agreed to donate their child’s organs if it was under unexpected circumstances however no family that was already on the list refused to donate.

Angie Scales, Lead Nurse for Paediatric Organ Donation at NHS Blood and Transplant said “By encouraging more young people and their families to confirm their support for organ donation on the NHS Organ Donor Register, we hope to be able to save more lives of children, both today and in the future.”

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