ORGAN donors have transformed the lives of more than 500 people in Oxfordshire.

In new figures released today by NHS Blood and Transplant, 528 people are alive thanks to organ transplants.

Sam Rose is one of those people as she underwent a kidney transplant when she was a teenager after being diagnosed with chronic renal failure in 1994.

For months she was on dialysis known as CAPD, where she had to have a tube in her tummy for fluid to go into her abdomen.

Following the successful transplant in 1995 Ms Rose, who lives near Banbury, has gone on to marvel at the creatures in the Great Barrier Reef, ridden ex-racehorses and even had a spell as a cowgirl in Australia.

The 35-year-old lawyer added: “The transplant completely transformed my life in so many different ways.

“You are given the freedom to live your life without having to worry where there is a safe and clean place to do your dialysis.

“I have been exceptionally lucky that it keeps working very well and it has had the most enormous affect on my life really.

“I had the opportunity to write a thank you letter to the donor’s family but I cannot express the full extent of my gratitude.”

An advocate of organ donation, Ms Rose has previously backed the Oxford Mail’s Sign up and Save a Life organ donation campaign after five people from Oxfordshire died in 2015 before receiving the transplant they needed.

Ms Rose added: “I got my life back the minute I had that transplant.

“I cannot thank the families enough who make the courageous decision to donate their loved ones’ organs.”

The NHS Blood and Transplant’s annual Transplant Activity Report also shows there are now 307,946 Oxfordshire residents who have registered as organ donors, 28 per cent more than five years ago.

But despite the rising figures there are still around three people in need of a transplant who die everyday.

Ian Biggs who lives in Abingdon said the two small bowel transplants his 18-year-old son Luke Biggs received meant he could live a normal childhood.

The inspirational teenager who laughed his way through life succumbed to complications from bowel disease in January 2016.

But his dad added: “We had a smashing time with him, real quality time.

“And although his loss is unbearable for us all by having those brilliant memories and time with him it slowly becomes more bearable.

“When he had his first transplant at eight years old, afterwards you would think he was just a normal child.”

Mr Biggs will be running the donor run at the British Transplant Games in Scotland at the end of the month.

The 49-year-old added: “I think what a lot of people do not understand about organ donation is that the final decision lies with the family and loved ones of the person who has died.

“Unfortunately Luke could not donate any of his organs although it was both his and our wish to do so.

“It is the most difficult and heartbreaking position to be in, knowing that this is the final goodbye before your loved one is wheeled into theatre for the donation.

“But we need to start thinking about how one person and their organs can actually go on to save the lives of so many people people.”

For more information or to join the NHS Organ Donor Register visit: organdonation.nhs.uk