Birmingham hospital charity highlights National Transplant Week

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity is highlighting National Transplant Week, which takes place between 1 – 7 July, by celebrating its incredible fundraisers helping to support transplant patients and raise awareness of organ donation.

Sarbjit Johal celebrated the tenth anniversary of his kidney transplant last year and to mark the occasion he donated an incredible £15,862 to the Renal Department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, which has funded a state-of-the-art dialysis machine.

Sarbjit is incredibly grateful for the care he has received from the hospital staff over the years as they’ve supported him through various medical problems. Thanks to generous donors, like Sarbjit, the hospital charity can continue to change and save lives.

Transplant patient, Mandy Ambert underwent a life-saving liver transplant at the QE last April. During her recovery last summer, she attended the British Transplant Games where she met other transplant recipients which gave her the idea to set up The Mulligans Golf Society. The group is for transplant donors and recipients and aims to raise awareness of organ donation and offer support to patients going through their treatment and recovery. “Mulligans” is a golfing term for second chance.

Mandy said, “You cannot prepare for what you’re involved with post-transplant, the emotional side of things is incredibly hard. We all know about organ donation, but we don’t necessarily want to talk about it. It’s important to let your family know your wishes.”

The hospital charity is currently fundraising for The Edmonds Transplant Centre, with support from A Edmonds & Co Ltd. The Centre is being built at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and will be opening later this year. It will become a national centre of excellence for organ transplantation and will create a 'one stop shop' for patients throughout their treatment journey and recovery. The Centre will bring all the specialist care to patients, including pre-transplant consultations, additional fitness classes before surgery, patient support groups, and rehabilitation classes after surgery.