By Emily Parsons

Last updated at 08:30, Friday, 11 January 2013

A third person has died in the last nine months waiting for an organ transplant.

Shelley's first son Lewis West-Rawlins, right, died at 11 weeks then her third son Mackenzie Wealleans, left, died at almost two years

The patient had been waiting for a new heart, but sadly died before an organ became available.

Details of the patient have not been released, but it is understood they lived in the Carlisle, Eden, Allerdale and Copeland area and lost their battle within the past two months.

The death brings the number of people who have died waiting for a transplant in this area since April 2012 to three – two have died waiting for a heart, and one waiting for a kidney.

The figures have emerged as The Cumberland News continues its Promise Life campaign, which was launched to raise awareness of the issue of organ donation and encourage more people to sign up to the donor register.

It was launched on May 18, one year after the death of Mackenzie Wealleans, from Botcherby, Carlisle. He died just weeks before his second birthday as he waited for a new heart.

His parents, Lee and Shelley, have publicly backed the campaign and allowed their son to be the face of change.

Leaflets and posters featuring his image have appeared on supermarket checkouts, in children’s school bags, at tourist information centres and in council offices.

When Promise Life launched, there were 93,035 people on the donor register from the Eden, Carlisle, Copeland and Allerdale areas. More than 2,500 people have since pledged their support, as that figure this week reached 95,567.

A spokesman for NHS Blood and Transplant said: “We are delighted the number of people in north Cumbria adding their names to the donor register has reached this milestone.

“We would encourage even more readers of The Cumberland News to do the same and, crucially, inform their loved ones of their wishes.”

In 2012/13 there have been 42 transplants for patients in the four postcode areas: 13 kidney transplants (including five live donations); one kidney and pancreas transplant; one lung transplant; three liver transplants; one multi-organ transplant; 22 cornea transplants; and one sclera (the white part of the eye) transplant.

The figures echo the nationwide shortage for hearts – despite two people in the region still urgently awaiting a life-saving heart transplant.

In total, 48 people in our area are currently waiting for a transplant.

To download an organ donor register form that you can post to NHS Blood and Transplant, click here

To join the register online, visit the NHS Blood and Transplant website here

First published at 08:27, Friday, 11 January 2013
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk