UK Wedding News
16/10/2013
The groom-to-be, 23-year-old Gordon Hutchinson, was born with a genital heart defect and needed surgery when he was 11-months-old. A pig-skin valve was inserted to keep his heart pumping.
He is due to marry his fiancée, 25-year-old Catriona Anderson, this weekend and said he will urge those attending the wedding to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Mr Hutchinson, who is a property manager from Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, was placed on the transplant register at the age of 13 after his heart failed. He had to wait six weeks for a suitable organ to be found in March 2003.
He is quoted as saying: "If it hadn't been for the selflessness of my donor and their family in agreeing to organ donation, I wouldn't be here today. They saved my life and changed it for the better.
"If I can get people talking about the issue with their families and joining the NHS Organ Donor Register then I've helped in some way repay that wonderful gift."
He continued: "When I met Catriona two years ago I told her very early on in our relationship about my transplant. I felt she had to know what she was taking on. She has been amazing, so supportive. She's been there for me every day since we met and this will be the happiest day of my life.
"I'm just grateful I can do a little bit to give back to the person that helped save me. If I can encourage just one more person to join the register then I've made a difference.
"All I'm asking of my guests is to think about it, have a wee chat with their family to let them know their wishes and then join the register. It only takes a few minutes and those seven words, 'I want to be an organ donor', can save seven lives."
The couple will tie the knot this weekend in front of 140 guests at Glenbervie House Hotel in Larbert.
In Scotland, around two million people are on the NHS Organ Donor Register, around 41% of the population.
(JP/MH)
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Wedding Guests Encouraged To Become Organ Donors
A man whose life was saved by a heart transplant when he was younger is turning down traditional wedding favours in the hopes that his guests will become organ donors, the Belfast Telegraph has reported.The groom-to-be, 23-year-old Gordon Hutchinson, was born with a genital heart defect and needed surgery when he was 11-months-old. A pig-skin valve was inserted to keep his heart pumping.
He is due to marry his fiancée, 25-year-old Catriona Anderson, this weekend and said he will urge those attending the wedding to join the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Mr Hutchinson, who is a property manager from Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, was placed on the transplant register at the age of 13 after his heart failed. He had to wait six weeks for a suitable organ to be found in March 2003.
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He is quoted as saying: "If it hadn't been for the selflessness of my donor and their family in agreeing to organ donation, I wouldn't be here today. They saved my life and changed it for the better.
"If I can get people talking about the issue with their families and joining the NHS Organ Donor Register then I've helped in some way repay that wonderful gift."
He continued: "When I met Catriona two years ago I told her very early on in our relationship about my transplant. I felt she had to know what she was taking on. She has been amazing, so supportive. She's been there for me every day since we met and this will be the happiest day of my life.
"I'm just grateful I can do a little bit to give back to the person that helped save me. If I can encourage just one more person to join the register then I've made a difference.
"All I'm asking of my guests is to think about it, have a wee chat with their family to let them know their wishes and then join the register. It only takes a few minutes and those seven words, 'I want to be an organ donor', can save seven lives."
The couple will tie the knot this weekend in front of 140 guests at Glenbervie House Hotel in Larbert.
In Scotland, around two million people are on the NHS Organ Donor Register, around 41% of the population.
(JP/MH)
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