Organ Donation

My Lungaversary is around the corner and as a gift to me, I want you ALL to sign up as an organ donor.







I was recently asked to be one of the transplant speakers in an educational video the Organ Donor Foundation are making. They want to run it on a loop in hospital receptions as well as to show it to schools to hopefully get more people to sign up as donors.

This is what I had to say on the video to try and get more people to sign up-

       "Hi, my name is Fawn Rogers. I’m 26 years old and had a double lung transplant on the 5th March 2013. I was born with a genetic disease called Cystic Fibrosis which affects various organs but mainly the lungs. I grew up constantly ill, in and out of hospitals which meant I missed out on a lot of school, social life and later the opportunity to go to university or work. I gradually became more and more sick until eventually when I was about 24 I became completely dependent on oxygen. This meant I could not leave home as I was attached to an oxygen machine 24 hours a day. It was no way for a 24 year old, or anyone, to spend their life.

I spent more than half of my time being treated in hospital. Being in hospital so often, I was able to meet a lot of other young people who were also sick and needing new lungs. Some of them, like me, were lucky enough to get a donor in time, but others weren't so lucky. Watching friends die simply because not enough people have signed up to be organ donors was very difficult. For all of us transplant was a shining beacon of hope, which kept us going even when we knew it would be much easier to just give up. 

I was listed for transplant in 2012 and waited patiently for a donor to be found. I would not have seen the end of 2013 if I hadn't have been transplanted. When I was told a donor was found, it was literally a dream come true. Whilst a very scary time, I was so excited to know that finally I wouldn't have to fight every single day to stay alive.

Today, I am a normal 26 year old woman. I go to the shops, I go out dancing with my friends, I go to the gym and I am even looking for my first full time job. It’s the simple things in life that we take for granite, like being able o brush your hair without feeling completely out of breath and exhausted. These are the things I am most grateful for and it amazes me every day what a huge difference having a transplant has made to my life. It has not simply improved my quality of life, it has given me a life.

None of this would have been possible without my donor. You can’t take your organs with you when you die so please consider leaving them to someone who needs them instead of discarding them.  Being an organ donor saves seven lives and is the easiest way to become a hero. I think of my donor and their family every single day and I am incredibly grateful for my second chance. 

Please, be a hero and give others the second chance they are dying to have.

Thank-you."

Please register as an organ donor HERE. 

In these next few days before my one year 'lungaversary' I will be encouraging all of you to sign up. Please leave a comment for me so I can see who's registered. Also feel free to ask me ANYTHING relating to transplants, cystic fibrosis or my personal story (which I will be blogging more about)