Feature: Your chance to help lift death sentences

Nicola Maskens, 61, had to undergo stem cell surgery three years ago after she was diagnosed with myelodysplasia (MDS), a condition that leads to low numbers of blood cells in the bone marrow.

But a successful transplant gave the tennis player a chance to represent Team GB at the World Transplant Games in Argentina, and she returned to Oxford with a hoard of medals.

The mother-of-two won a gold medal in the tennis singles, silver in the long jump and three bronze medals in the mixed tennis, 100 metres and discus.

And she said she thinks every day about her transplant and donor. She hopes her experience will encourage more to sign up and save a life.

The North Oxford tennis player said: “I had a stem cell transplant in August 2012 after I was diagnosed with MDS. I was very active and fatigue just started to creep in and it affected my tennis.

“It was a bit of a death sentence. If I did not find a donor then my future was quite short.

“But I found a donor in Germany who was on the Anthony Nolan Register, and I managed to get the transplant.

“I was very fortunate.”

Mrs Maskens then had the nervous wait to see if the donor matched and was willing to donate before the transplant.

She added: “I was in the Churchill Hospital for about a month and they kill your immune system before they put the new one in so that it doesn’t reject the bone marrow.

“It took a while to settle in but I went back to work in November and began to play tennis again.

“It’s given me something new. After this I was looking to do something positive and competing for Team GB in transplant competitions allowed me to share my experiences with others who had been similar situations.”

Mrs Masken said she was well supported by her husband Anthony, and sons Jonathan, 29, and Anthony, 22.

As National Transplant Week closes, the Oxford Mail is encouraging members of the public sign up to the donor list.

According to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) four out of 10 families in the UK currently do not give permission to donate organs when approached by doctors as it remains a taboo issue.

The campaign this year focuses on encouraging individuals to discuss their decision about organ donation with those closest to them.

If organ donation is a possibility when a person dies, their family could fulfil their decision of becoming an organ donor.

‘If you can give someone life, you shouldn’t have a second thought’

A transplant patient asks people to sign up as organ donors after it emerged that a third are still undecided.

Filomeno Cota had a transplant a year ago after being diagnosed with kidney failure and high blood pressure.

The 40-year-old had to change his shifts at the Oxford Hotel to attend dialysis appointments, and said without the new organ he would have had to have organised his life around the treatment.

Now Mr Cota is appealing for people to sign up as donors as part of National Transplant Week, which began today.

• Grateful: Filomeno Cota who was given a new kidney, with his wife Nhiad     

He said: “It’s highly important in today’s world. With a kidney, there are so many people waiting to get off dialysis machines. For some people, it can give them back their life.

“If you can give someone life after your death you shouldn’t have a second thought about signing up.”

His words come as NHS Blood and Transplant revealed that a third of people have not decided whether to sign up as donors or not.

A survey of 2,072 British adults found that while half said they would donate their organs after death, 11 per cent had never thought about it and 23 per cent did not know.

Mr Cota, who lives in Yarnton, said he was surprised by the results of the survey. “My first thought was ‘are you kidding me?’ You’re gone, but your organs can support some other human being.”

There are 83 people in the county waiting for a transplant, while last year 41 people had their lives saved thanks to organ donations.

There are 282,946 people in Oxfordshire signed up to the Organ Donor Register, but last month the Oxford Mail launched a campaign urging readers to Sign Up and Save a Life.

The UK has one of the lowest rates in Europe of families consenting to organ donation – 58 per cent. As a result of the figures, NHS Blood and Transplant is launching a new appeal – Say Yes I Donate – to break the silence surrounding organ donation.

It found people are more willing to tell friends and family how they would spend a Lottery win, than whether they want to be buried or cremated or which body part they most want to change.

NHS Blood and Transplant assistant director Anthony Clarkson said the campaign aimed to break down the taboos around discussing organ donations.

He added: “Telling your loved ones you want to be a donor means your family will be in no doubt about your decision, meaning your wishes will be fulfilled.”

The group asks people to show organ donation support on social media by using the hashtag #sayidonate.

To sign up and save a life visit organdonation.nhs.uk.