Feature on Organ Donation with Vinnie Jones tonight

Feature on Organ Donation with Vinnie Jones tonight

Tune in tonight on BBC One Yorkshire at 7.30pm

Former Leeds United player Vinnie Jones will feature in a special programme on Monday evening (23rd March) to help raise awareness around the topic of organ donation and talk about the upcoming change in organ donation law.

Inside Out (Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) will be aired on BBC One (or Sky Channel 957) at 7.30pm as reporters take a look at the change in the organ donation system, highlighting the importance of registering your decision and discussing it with family members and loved ones. The show will also be available on BBC iPlayer.

During the programme, the former midfielder speaks about his late wife who received a heart transplant that saved not only her life but his life too. Vinnie also discusses and advocates the law change that will come into place on 20th May 2020 regarding organ donation, which will presume that anyone who has not registered their decision or opted out, consents to being an organ donor.

There are almost 250 people on the organ donation waiting in West Yorkshire, with just one third of residents in West Yorkshire having recorded their decision to donate on the Organ Donor Register. On average, 400 people die every year across the country because a transplant is not available for them – please remember that you are more likely to need an organ transplant than be a donor yourself.

Throughout the season, the club have shown its support for organ donation, helping to promote key messages and raise awareness around the importance of discussing the subject with those closest to you.

First-team star Patrick Bamford and Leeds United Women player Olivia Smart, who works as a liver and kidney transplant nurse, paid a special visit to St James's University Hospital to meet with patients and staff on the Liver Unit.  They learnt about the process for transplant patients, the importance of donors and their life-saving actions and the improvements in technology that can now help to keep organs preserved for a longer period of time before a transplant is able to take place.

The Leeds United Women first team also dedicated a matchday to the Be A Hero campaign, wearing special t-shirts to warm-up in and conducted interviews encouraging people to talk about organ donation.

Members of staff from St James's University Hospital were also on hand at Elland Road for our Sky Bet Championship match against Blackburn Rovers where they had the chance to speak with supporters attending the game face-to-face, encouraging fans to register their decision, giving out advice and answering any key questions.

For further information on organ donation, please click here or to learn more about the Be A Hero campaign, please click here.

To register your decision with regards to organ donation, please click here.

Make sure you tune in tonight, BBC One Yorkshire or Sky Channel 957 at 7.30pm.

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