Organ Donation Week: Calderdale woman who needs dialysis three times a week to stay alive says 'life would be given back to me' if she got kidney transplant

Danielle Crossfield is one of 93 people in Halifax and Huddersfield alone who are on the organ transplant waiting list.

For Organ Donation Week, the 51-year-old has told of how her “life would be given back” to her if she could just get the call to say she was getting the kidney she needs.

Danielle currently has kidney dialysis three times a week to help keep her alive.

She spends 18 hours a week attending these appointments - including travelling to and from Calderdale Royal Hospital – and hopes one day to receive a transplant after joining the waiting list in January.

“I would see it as someone having sacrificed something of theirs to help me, and I would try and make the best of my days and remember the donor in my own little way each day,” she said.

“It’s just waiting for the call. You don’t know how close to the top of the transplant list you are, it’s just a waiting game.”

Danielle is urging more people to sign up as organ donors and make sure their families know their wishes when it comes to donating.

Jayne Greenhalgh, specialist organ donation nurse at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I work closely with the intensive care team and am in the privileged position of speaking to many families about organ donation.

"This conversation can come at a really difficult time. Families are facing the prospect of bereavement and can be very tired and upset so for them to know what their loved one would want regarding donating organs and tissues helps them to support this decision, clear in the knowledge they are following the wishes of their loved one.

"It’s never easy to talk about what you want to happen when you die but by registering your organ donation decision, you are helping your loved ones by knowing what your wishes are.”

Further information and advice is available on the NHS organ donation website and you can also register your decision online. Alternatively, call the 24-hour organ donation line on 0300 123 23 23.