So important to share organ donation wishes

“Making a decision to donate your organs after your death is a brave and heroic choice which can save and improve the lives of many others.” Donna Allen is a Specialist Nurse – Organ Donation (SNOD) at Walsall Manor Hospital which also happens to be her own local hospital, the place where she did all […]

Are you “leaving them certain” this Organ Donation Week?

Walsall and Wolverhampton families are being urged to have open and honest conversations with their friends and loved ones about organ donation – ensuring we “leave them certain” about the decision to be an Organ and Tissue donor, to help save and improve more lives. Organ Donation Week takes place from 20-26 September this year. The focus is “leave them certain” […]

Reassuring families and raising awareness of organ donation

Throughout Natalie Myatt’s nursing career she has always had a strong interest in organ donation. “I did my nurse training at Wolverhampton University, qualifying in 2009, where I started working in Walsall before moving to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham,” she explained. “Through that time I worked in the Neurosurgical Intensive Therapy Unit and […]

Volunteer Alan wants to help others

League of Friends volunteer Alan Bell has very recently made the decision to become an organ donor. Alan, who volunteers for the Host and Hostess service that greets visitors to Walsall Manor Hospital, had a discussion with his wife Dorothy who had already signed up. “The thought came to me when I went to Sandwell […]

Lolly’s life-saving legacy

“It made me think about how man families there are out there waiting and hoping for an organ to give their child their life back” Pam Bamford’s teenage daughter Lauren “Lolly” Wilkinson died from a cardiac arrest following an asthma attack in January 2017. The 17-year-old Grace Academy student suffered from brittle asthma and a […]

A priceless gift

Ask father-of-one Tom Barker about his life before his kidney and pancreas transplant just a few weeks ago and he describes a vicious circle of dialysis, feeling ill after dialysis, being unable to plan holidays and not having the energy to play with his young daughter. Post-transplant and Tom says: “I’m a different person. All […]

Organ donation – a “beautiful gesture” says Walsall Consultant

“When you’ve seen one of your friends close to death because of sepsis and severe renal failure and have watched someone so lively and vibrant suffering so terribly it really brings it home how precious life is.” Dr Viktorija Cerniauskiene is Clinical lead – Organ Donation for Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and is a Consultant […]

Steven helps spread the organ donation message

A talented teenager is helping to raise awareness of Organ Donation Week in Walsall after designing a series of posters to boost the campaign. Steven Hasketh, aged 13, has a real passion for biology and loves finding out about the services that are within Walsall Manor Hospital. He met with Walsall healthcare NHS Trust’s  Specialist Nurse for […]

Let’s start talking about organ donation – in our own families

“There’s a fear that if we start talking about death and our wishes that we’re being too morbid and we’ll make something bad happen. We need to break down these barriers – starting in our own families.” Jenna Davies, Director of Governance, is Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s Executive lead for organ donation. “This Organ Donation […]

Saddlers physio Marc supports Organ Donation Week

During his training years Walsall Football Club physio  Marc Czuczman spent a lot of time on Intensive Therapy and High Dependency Units at various hospitals and met many patients with Cystic Fibrosis or heart conditions. “I’ll never forget seeing how ill some of those patients were and watching the transformation in them once they’d had organ […]

Highlighting the positive impact of organ donation

As a Specialist Nurse – Organ Donation Kirsty Lazenby deals with death and life on a daily basis, building relationships between staff, patients and families at Walsall Manor Hospital. Kirsty’s role is to identify patients that may be suitable organ donors which means she liaises with many distressed relatives at the most traumatic time in […]