THE wait for Christmas is almost over but thousands of people will be waiting for an organ transplant over the festive season.

Their lives are on hold and they don’t know when, or even if, they will ever receive the transplant they need.

More than 6,500* patients are currently on the UK’s transplant waiting list and are facing the festive season hoping for a phone call.

Just one of these people is Nicola Hawkins, aged 44, from the St Austell area, who needs a kidney transplant.

She said: “This will be my ninth Christmas on dialysis. It is slightly harder getting through Christmas whilst on dialysis. There’s more going on socially at this time of year and it’s hard to accommodate that whilst fitting in dialysis, maintaining a reasonable diet and fluid restriction and actually having enough energy. It’s sometimes hard just not being able to join in.

“The one thing I always find difficult is the restriction on travel and weekends away. It would be lovely to be spontaneous and just decide to go away for a break for a few days, but that is impossible on haemodialysis without planning.

“I also don’t like dialysis at new units, so this Christmas I am flying to London to see my brother and his family on 26th December and coming back on 27th December. I’m having to dialyse on Christmas Day so I can have the next day off and it’s a pain.

“I dialyse at home which is great — but I hate it, I really, really hate it. I would just like to have a normal Christmas without needles, dialysis and diet, to have some energy and just be myself.

“Living a normal life without being on dialysis sounds like the most fabulous and exciting thing that could possibly happen to me next year. A dull, rainy, boring day with great kidney function would be the best thing in the world.

“All you millions of people out there that have ‘normal’ kidneys and want something special for Christmas — you don’t know how fortunate you are!”

Some people will get the best Christmas present ever, an organ transplant, thanks to families going ahead with organ donation at a tragic time for them. But the reality is very few patients on the waiting list will, as on average only between 350 and 400 transplants take place each month**.

Thousands of people waiting for a transplant will head into 2016 with an uncertain future, with no idea when they will get their transplant or even if they ever will. Sadly more than one in ten people on the waiting list will die before they get the transplant they need. More than one in four people waiting for lungs will die. In the last ten years over 6,000 people, including 270 children, have died before receiving the transplant they desperately needed.

NHS Blood and Transplant is urging everyone to spare a couple of minutes this Christmas, maybe while they’re waiting for the turkey to cook or their favourite festive film to start, to think about those waiting for a transplant and sign up to be an organ donor.

Sally Johnson, director of organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Waiting for a transplant is difficult and can be especially hard at Christmas. Nicola is not alone; sadly thousands of people are in the same situation.

“To end the wait for as many patients as possible the NHS needs more people to sign up as organ donors, and talk to those closest to them about their decision so more families say yes to organ donation if the time comes. Four out of ten families say no to donating a relative’s organs, meaning organs go to waste and people are left waiting for, or die before a suitable organ becomes available.

“We know that many families take enormous comfort from organ donation and are proud that their loved one has been able to save the lives of others. So, if you haven’t told those closest to you that you want to be an organ donor, then please do it while you’re together this festive season. Record your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register too.”

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register please go to www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23 — Now is the #TimeToSign.

*Figures as at December 8 2015, those on the active waiting list

** Average number of transplants across the UK each month in 2014/15