I have been spending hour after hour this week creating a slide-show to raise awareness of the desperate need for more registered organ donors in the UK. During this time I have been reading lots of letters to Donor Families from receipients, that are viewable on the internet. All the letters spoke of such heartfelt gratitude, but I think this one sums it up more than any other, so I've copied it down here. Wouldn't it be amazing to think that we had each left a gift like this behind?

Dear Donor Family,

" Thank You" these two words seem so inadequate for the gift of life you have given to me.

You have given me a second chance to live and many tomorrows.

I will be able to see the sun rise and set, feel the rain and sun on my face, hear the wind in the trees, and listen to the birds sing.

I will be able to hug and be hugged.

I must offer my deepest sympathy for your loss, mere words from a stranger, but heartfelt just the same. Perhaps, in your generous donation your family and mine will be able to "Celebrate the Life" of loved ones both past and present.

I know nothing about the donor only that they must have been kind, caring, compassionate, and generous, something they had to have learned from you, their family.

I feel that each new day has endless possibilities, and that my horizons are without bounds.

I only hope that I am able to justify the use of this wonderful gift.

I could make you promises of what I would do to make our world a better place, but we all know that promises tend to be broken and time can cause us to forget. But know this, not a day, not an hour, or a minute will go by without my thinking of the donor and their family without whom I would not have had a chance to live.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The recipient