I thank heart donor's family for my 'fantastic mundane' life

A man who got married and had two children after a heart transplant has said he will be forever grateful to the unknown donor's family for his "fantastic, mundane" life.

Kev Rands, from Whiteley, Hampshire, was given the life-saving operation when he was 27.

He said it was "crazy" that transplants were often prevented by consent issues involving bereaved relatives.

The 41-year-old is taking part in an NHS campaign, which warns of a "significant and accelerating decline in organ donation and transplantation across the UK".

Rands, who has a rare cardiac condition, has had six open-heart surgeries in his lifetime, starting when he was just 10 days old.

As an adult, he spent five years on the transplant waiting list.

At one stage, he even removed himself from the list despite his worsening condition, after several instances of being told to prepare for an operation which was subsequently cancelled.

"I got the call a few times, so I'd get ready to go then get a call saying that they'd done the cross-matching and the heart wasn't suitable," he said.

"After two years, I asked to be taken off the list. It was all too much."

Rands rejoined the list and was finally matched with the heart of an unknown young man.

The transplant operation was carried out at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, after hospitals in London, Bristol and Leeds turned him down due to the complexity of his case.

Fourteen years on, the van salesman is married, with an 11-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son.

He has sent pictures of his family to the donor's relatives via the NHS but has not received a reply.

"I wanted them to know I didn't waste it," he said.

"Every day is an absolute blessing. I used to have no quality of life at all.

"The fact that now I can go to the gym and have two kids is all just because someone said yes."

Rands said organ donations were falling despite the UK system of deemed consent.

"You'd think that would increase the number of donors, but it's actually dropped," he said.

"You can have a donor card in your pocket for 20 years, but it still comes down to the decision of the family."

Organ donations can only proceed with the donor family's consent.

NHS Blood and Transplant said there had been more than 2,000 lost opportunities for transplants since April 2021, because relatives did not know what the potential donor wanted.

It urged people to mark World Heart Day by recording their wishes on the NHS App or the NHS Organ Donor Register.