5,000 requests for donor cards after Orla Tinsley documentary
More than 5,000 donor cards have been requested since a documentary on Orla Tinsley aired on Monday.
The Irish Kidney Association confirmed the surge in requests in the three days following the programme, “Orla Tinsley: Warrior”, on RTÉ One.
According to the IKA, many individual requests were for multiples of donor cards.
The documentary was filmed over 14 months in New York and charted Orla’s struggle while her CF condition worsened as she awaited a life-saving double lung transplant which finally came following six false alarms.
The programme was followed with an audience discussion on the Claire Byrne Live show which involved people touched by organ donation.
Mark Murphy, Chief Executive of the Irish Kidney Association, said: “On a normal day, we would receive between 20 and 50 requests for organ donor cards.
"The public’s interest in organ donation has dramatically spiked since CF campaigner Orla Tinsley’s documentary was aired on Monday.
"Such a level of public response has not been seen for almost a decade. Orla’s courage has moved the public in such a powerful and visceral way to support organ donation.
This gives hope to the 600 or more people on transplant waiting lists and their families and demonstrates, once again, how powerful individual stories shared by people who have been touched by organ failure and organ donation can capture the public’s empathy.
"We hope that the public will continue to have that vital discussion about organ donation with their loved ones and let their wishes be known,” he said.
You can request an organ donor card via the Freetext number, Freetext DONOR to 50050 or via the Irish Kidney Association website here.
The ‘digital organ donor card’ is available from the Google playstore or itunes. Your wishes can also be recorded when applying for the new format drivers’ licence and code 115 will be put on your new licence.
