'Someone will die today waiting for a donor organ'

Doctors say if people joined the organ register they could save or transform up to nine lives

New figures show that more than 800 people in London lost their lives waiting for an organ transplant in the past decade. Nationally, the figure stands at 12,000 deaths.

NHS Blood and Transplant said 8,000 people across the UK are currently on the waiting list.

Doctors said there was an urgent need for more people to join the organ donation register, and urged the public to sign up.

In the UK, the law changed to presume people wish to donate their organs when they die, unless they specifically opt out. However, people are urged to sign the register to make their wishes known and to prevent loved ones from facing uncertainty.

The NHS says on average, more than three people a day die or become too ill for a transplant

In the UK last year, 173 UK families overruled their relative's registered or expressed decision to donate their organs.

Director of organ donation and transplantation Anthony Clarkson said: "Someone will die today waiting for an organ transplant.

"You are more likely to need a transplant than you ever are to be a donor.

"Most of us would accept an organ if we needed one – but far fewer of us have made the decision to donate."

Mr Clarkson said people on the organ register could "save or transform up to nine lives."

The figures have been released at the beginning of Organ Donation Week, which "highlights the desperate need for more organ donors."

Eliza has to have kidney dialysis every night at home while she sleeps

Eliza Jeurissen, a 20-year-old from Newham in east London, is waiting for a kidney transplant. At the moment she has at-home dialysis.

Four years ago, she was diagnosed with FSGS - a rare kidney condition that causes too much protein to be lost in the urine and too much water to be retained in the body.

There is no known direct cause, but her body is essentially attacking itself.

She said she used to play football seriously and was told her fitness levels were going down.

"I was also swollen in the face and ankles and couldn't stand up for more than an hour without my legs starting to swell."

By the age of 19, her kidney function had decreased to the point that she had to have dialysis, at home, every night.

"It was difficult at first, you just have to adapt to it."

Eliza says a transplant would give her the chance to rebuild her life

Eliza is on the kidney transplant list, but she is still waiting for a donor.

The transplant service advised her that she may need to wait up to five years because of her ethnicity and a lack of suitably matched organs.

Eliza said: "Waiting for a transplant is a physically demanding and emotional journey.

"I often wonder when it will be my turn – it's a strange feeling to expect something to happen but have no power over how and when.

"It would mean so much if more people signed up to be organ donors."