Organ Donation – Clare’s story
ORGAN DONATION WEEK
21-27 September 2026
“I’m waiting for a new heart, but I’m determined to give others hope while I wait”.
My name is Clare and I’m from Llandudno. For two years, I have been waiting for the phone call that could change my life forever. I am on the heart transplant waiting list at The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, living with a heart condition that has been part of my life since birth.
I was born with Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) and underwent the Mustard procedure as a baby. Over the years, I have faced an extraordinary journey with my heart, including pacemakers and an implantable defibrillator, and I am now waiting for a donor heart.
While I wait, I want to do something positive. I want to tell my story.
I know there are many people who are desperately poorly and waiting for an organ transplant. I don’t want to take away from anyone else’s story. I simply want to use my own experience to help people understand just how precious organ donation is.
For me, organ donation isn’t simply a medical subject, it represents hope, life and the possibility of another tomorrow. Every person who chooses to become an organ donor could potentially give someone else the chance to live, to make memories with their family, and to experience a future they may once have thought they would never see.
I hope that sharing my own journey might encourage people to think about organ donation and talk about their wishes with loved ones. Someone else’s decision could one day give me the greatest gift of all — a chance at more life.
But I also know that there are so many other people waiting too.
My journey has also inspired me to create Angelheart, a creative project centred around hope, kindness, magic and positivity. Through my creative work, I hope to reach people who may never have thought about organ donation before. I believe that even while waiting for my own transplant, I can still make a difference. I may be waiting for a new heart, but I don’t want to sit quietly and do nothing. If telling my story makes even one person think about organ donation, talk to their family or register their decision, then something beautiful could come from everything I’ve been through.
There is also a deeply personal side to the waiting. Every person on a transplant waiting list has their own story, their own fears and their own hopes. Behind every name is a human being waiting for the possibility of another chapter, and behind every donor is a family who may one day make an incredibly difficult decision that gives someone else the chance to live. I will continue waiting with hope, while using my voice to remind people why organ donation matters.
I don’t know when my phone call will come. I don’t know what the future holds. But while I’m waiting, I want to spread hope and awareness. A donor can leave behind a legacy that is far greater than they could ever imagine — the gift of life. For me, the waiting continues. But so does my hope.
I want my story to remind people that organ donation isn’t simply about hospitals and medical procedures. It is about people, families, memories, love and the possibility of giving someone another tomorrow.
My message:
“Please talk to your family about organ donation. Make sure the people you love know what you would want. One conversation today could help another family face tomorrow with hope. I am waiting for a heart, spreading hope, and raising awareness for the gift of organ donation”.
A message to donor families from myself:
“To any donor family who may one day make the incredibly difficult decision to donate the organs of someone they love, I would simply like to say thank you. I know that behind every donation there is a person, a family and a story. I cannot imagine how difficult that decision may be, but the gift that can come from it can give another person the chance of life, memories and more precious time with the people they love”.
If I am ever lucky enough to receive a donor heart, I will carry with me the deepest gratitude for the person who made that possible and for their family, who in the midst of unimaginable loss, gave the most precious gift of all — the gift of life.
