Harrogate has one of the highest numbers of registered organ donors

Harrogate and Knaresborough has been named as one of the top ten places in the country for organ donation registration.
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According to new NHS figures, the district has one of the highest numbers of people who have signed up to be on the organ donation registration.

The area placed ninth on the top ten list, with over half of Harrogate residents signed up to be organ donors.

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This means that 85, 719 people from Harrogate are registered to donate their organs.

Mark Smith, Harrogate dad of two and double transplant recipient with his family.Mark Smith, Harrogate dad of two and double transplant recipient with his family.
Mark Smith, Harrogate dad of two and double transplant recipient with his family.

Just over 50.4% of people in the district were on the list which is only 9% fewer than the region in the number one spot, Filton and Bradley Stoke, who averaged 59.3%.

Harrogate and Knaresborough was the only Northern constituency to appear in the list.

Mark Smith 46, a dad of two from Harrogate, had a life-saving double transplant in 2009 after a 25 year battle with diabetes.

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He has since has since spent his time fundraising tens of thousands of pounds the British Kidney Patient Association and is a member of their patient advisory group.

Mark Smith, Harrogate dad of two and double transplant recipient with his family.Mark Smith, Harrogate dad of two and double transplant recipient with his family.
Mark Smith, Harrogate dad of two and double transplant recipient with his family.

He has also joined the Organ Donation Committee at the Harrogate District Hospital.

He said: “As a double transplant recipient I am delighted to see that the region is up there amongst the highest levels of organ donation sign up in the UK.

“Although there is still much work and many people still need to have the conversation with their loved ones about their wishes this is an encouraging statistic. The more people who sign up to the register, the more people will have their lives saved.

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“Thank you to our region for being one of the highest rated in the UK for sign up to the register. Please continue having those conversations.”

Stephanie Davis, Emergency Department/Acute Medicine Matron and Organ Donation Committee member for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted to hear that Harrogate and Knaresborough is in the top ten English constituencies for the highest percentage of people on the Organ Donor Register.

“The Trust’s Organ Donation Committee works to increase awareness and encourage people to register to be a donor and we are supporting the nationwide campaign, ‘Words save lives’ this Organ Donation Week.”