Just under 105,000 Gwent people are registered as organ donors. As a Gwent father calls for more publicity to encourage people to donate, CRAIG WOODHOUSE and REBECCA LAWRENCE investigate the United Kingdom's transplant lottery

FORMER lorry driver Anthony Chitty, 47, of Woodside, Duffryn, Newport, was delighted when he received a kidney after waiting for six years.

But his body rejected it and he is now back on the transplant list.

He wants to encourage more people across Wales to carry donor cards to increase the chances of a match.

Mr Chitty suffers from a rare blood disease called May-Hegglin Anomaly, which caused his kidneys to fail.

He said: "I used to work for Falcon Lowloaders and was on my way to do a job at Port Talbot.

"As I came onto the motorway I collapsed behind the wheel and crashed. Then they found my kidneys had failed. That was seven-and-a-half years ago."

He was put on the transplant list and started dialysis, then after six years, he was told there was a kidney match.

He said: "When they found a match I was over the moon. I do not know whose kidney it was but I am very very grateful.

"It was great to start with. It was a whole new meaning to life and I could do things I couldn't before - drink as much tea and coffee as I liked.

"It gave me more energy to play with the kids and it was great not being tied down to four hours three days a week."

But just before Christmas 2003, Mr Chitty's body rejected his new kidney.

He said: "Going to the hospital so much put a lot of stress on my family life. My wife and I separated in the end. We are still very good friends, but it has had an enormous effect on my life. It's stopped me from working."

Two of Anthony's children, Lauren, 10, and Andrew, 16, also have the rare genetic disease, which causes moderate bruising and can affect hearing and kidneys.

He said: "It does worry me that the same thing might happen to Lauren and Andrew. It does not seem to bother them at the moment. Fingers crossed they do not get the full effects."

Both children have been given hero awards from the National Kidney Research Association for all the help, love and support they have given their father.

He said: "Andrew abseiled down the Royal Gwent Hospital and he's going to do a zip line from the Transporter Bridge.

"Lauren gives me love all the time."

Mr Chitty, who goes to dialysis three days a week at St Woolos Hospital, said: "There's always a chance a match will be found. I could be talking to you now and they could find one. I am always waiting for that phone call.

"I am prepared to go through rejection again as there's always hope the kidney will take and last a lot longer."

He now wants to encourage more people to donate organs but understands how difficult it must be for families.

He said: "It's up to individuals if they want to donate. It would be much better to have the sort of thing like presumed consent but then again it would be like the state running your life. It would help but it's up to the individual."

Part of the reason that Britain has a long organ waiting list can be found in the country's legislation.

As things stand, Britain has an "opt-in" system where individuals need to register their desire to be an organ donor when they die.

But the British Medical Association, together with some leading surgeons and patients' groups, favour an "opt-out" system, where people would have to express their desire NOT to be an organ donor when they die.

Dr Richard Moore, head of transplants in South Wales, said: "The growing number of people waiting for organs is a result of pressure on intensive care beds but also the refusal of relatives, which is about 30-40 per cent at the moment.

"We need to get relatives to talk among themselves so that people know what we want to happen to us after we are dead.

"People do not like talking about death, whether about cremation or organ donation, but it is something we need to consider because it is going to happen."

* In 2004-5, four people died in the Gwent area while waiting for a transplant (Nearly 400 die nationally every year).

* There are 40 people currently waiting for a transplant in Gwent. Of these, 36 are waiting for kidneys, two for lungs and two for kidneys and pancreas combined.

* In 2004-5, 28 people from the Gwent area received an organ transplant. Of these, 13 were kidneys and two were from live donors. Nationally, 482 came from live donors.

* There are 104,981 people in the Gwent area signed up to the organ donor register.

The Argus has followed the stories of many local people needing transplants.

We reported how Maureen Hendon, from Malpas, Newport, was waiting for her fourth kidney transplant in 11 years and has backed a campaign to help other people who need an organ donation.

She was told she had to go on a dialysis machine 11 years ago.

Since then she has had three new kidneys, which have lasted four years, a few months, and just a few days respectively.

She wants as many people to join the register as possible and says it is vital people tell their friends and family their wishes.

And a devoted Caerleon mum gave her daughter a new lease of life by donating her kidney.

Judith Howells, 40, one of many live donors in the UK, helped her daughter, Rhian, 20, lead a normal life, stopping her from needing constant dialysis.