A family from Leicester whose daughter became an organ donor and saved three lives after her death, is urging Leicester’s Asian community to do the same.
A report published recently revealed that people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAMA) communities wait longer for kidney transplants.
The Parmer family lost their 12 year old daughter, Ashni two years ago after she suffered a blood clot in the brain. The family who were left devastated, get comfort knowing that her organs went on to save the lives of three people.
Ashni’s father, Parish said, “We feel like her legacy lives on, she’s out there somewhere, its not only those people that received the organs that have benefited, its their families, the gift of life is nothing bigger than that, we are really proud of her, its been an honour to have been her parents for the last 12 years”.
The family learnt about organ donations after attending the Leicester Mela, Parish says about getting more Asian people donating “they need to get out there, get their names on the organ donor list, if they were ill, anybody would be quick enough to take an organ, but if you would take an organ , why not give one, its free to register, you can do it online, so please go ahead and get registered”.
The Organ Donation and Transplant Activity Report from 2013/14 says there were 1,320 deceased donors in the UK, but only 74 of them were from BAME communities, and of those just 39 were Asian.
Talking about the lack of Asian donors, Specialist Nurse in Organ Donation at Leicester’s Hospitals, Kat Squires said “I think there’s a real lack of awareness, I think within those communities its probably not talked about, generally organ donation isn’t something that people talk about an awful lot, so I think that its really important that people from any background speak to their family about their wishes regarding organ donation and make sure they are talking about it in their communities”
