Jenni Wyatt is encouraging people to become an organ donor after receiving a liver transplant in 2015.

This week, September 4-10, is Organ Donation Week and Jenni is telling her story to encourage others to support the NHS Blood and Transplant’s campaign - ‘Lets Talk About It’ as an advocate for the charity Live Life Give Life.

Jenni said: “I was born and bred in Modbury, I lived in Kingsbridge for two years whilst running Cherry Cherry Boutique in the town. During the time I was there, I was fundraising for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation and highlighting my own links to the charity having been diagnosed with liver disease at the age of 13.

“I was diagnosed with Auto Immune Hepatitis, a chronic liver condition in which the immune system causes damage to the liver. Around three years ago, my health began to deteriorate and I started getting very sudden infections that required emergency visits to hospital.

“These caused considerable further damage to my liver and in March 2015, it was decided that my liver was struggling and my quality of life was deteriorating, so I was put on the transplant list.

“In September 2015, I was called into hospital for a potential transplant, however the liver was deemed unsuitable and I was sent home. At the end of October 2015, my call came and I was given the gift of life.

“Words cannot express how much my life has changed through having this transplant. I have discovered that I had been coping with a whole host of problems that I thought were normal. My energy has improved dramatically and I now have the opportunity to live my life.

“I am so excited to have a future to look forward to.

“Organ donation truly is the greatest gift. I will be forever grateful to my donor for giving me and others a chance to live life to the full.”

September 4 marks the start of Organ Donation Week, a week dedicated to raining awareness of the importance of organ donation and of talking about organ donation.

“Since being given the opportunity to live my life to the full, I have become an advocate for organ donation awareness charity, Live Life, Give Life whose aim is to encourage people to talk about organ donation and get the message out there that it is a subject worth talking about.” Jenni added.

This year Organ Donation Week runs between 4-10 September. Live Life Give Life is supporting the NHS Blood and Transplant’s campaign - ‘Lets Talk About It’ - in the hope that it will encourage and inspire people to give someone the chance of a new beginning by becoming an organ donor.

It is vital that everyone tells those closest to them of their wishes on the subject of organ donation. This will make it easier for them to support their choices at the crucial moment. Too many families faced with the possibility of donating a relative’s organs do not know what their loved ones wanted and find themselves having to make a decision on their behalf.

There are now over 50,000 people alive today thanks to the kindness of those who have donated their organs after their deaths, and their courageous families. Yet every day across the UK, around three people who could have benefited from a transplant die because there aren’t enough organ donors. There are currently around 6,400 people on the transplant waiting list.

Sarah Jones, trustee of the national organ donation charity, Live Life Give Life, said: “Have members of your family ever talked about what you would do if one of you needed a heart, liver, kidney or other organ transplant to liver?

“While most people support organ donation, many people don’t realise that their family’s support is needed for organ donation to go ahead. If you want to save lives, a few words can make an extraordinary difference.

“By taking just a few minutes to sign up, you could save up to nine lives after you’ve gone.

“Organ donation could affect anyone; it’s vital that people take the time to think about it and talk to their families about their wishes. That will save them a lot of angst at an already difficult time.”

You can sign the organ donor register online at www.livelifegivelife.org.uk or at www.organdonation.nhs.uk or by phoning 0300 123 23 23. For further information please visit www.livelifegivelife.org.uk.