Thanksgiving service at Ely Cathedral to honour organ donors and their families

Addenbrooke’s patients and staff will be among the congregation for a special thanksgiving service at Ely Cathedral to honour the memories of those who died and donated their organs for transplant.

 

A thousand people are expected to attend the event, which takes place at 2pm on Sunday 15 May. It will bring together the families of deceased donors from Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex, as well as patients who received transplants at Addenbrooke’s and Papworth hospitals.

 

 

This will be the seventh service of its kind in the region over the past 14 years.

 

Sue Falvey, from NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Although the day will be emotional for many, we hope that people will find it inspirational and uplifting.  It will help remind people that the gift given by donors at the end of their lives is not forgotten or taken for granted.

 

“People will be coming from all over East Anglia and beyond, including some from overseas. It’s a tremendous event which gives anyone who has been affected by donation and transplantation in this region the chance to come and pay their respects and show their gratitude.” 

Among those attending will be Pauline Morgan whose 19-year-old daughter Kirsten died in a car accident.

 

Pauline said: “Kirsten signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register when she was 16 and even though it was incredibly hard to be faced with the decision to give the chance of life to another, the fact that Kirsten had a donor card made the decision easier. It was her wish, and her gift and her thoughtfulness for others typified her personality. As a parent I am so proud of her for making this choice.

 

“The service for me is a huge thank you to the donors, to acknowledge their gift and for the recipients to say thank you. I see it as a tribute to every family who had the ability to think of others before themselves, and give the chance of another shot at life to a stranger. I wouldn’t miss this chance to pay tribute to Kirsten.”

 

Thanks to the altruism of donors and their families, 3,709 organs were made available for transplantation from April 2009 to March 2010. Nearly 1,000 lives were saved as a result.

 

 

 

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