I WAS saddened to learn this week of the death of 10-years-old Leigh boy Michael Gillespie.

For 18 months I have followed his story, as he and his family hoped that his suffering would be brought to an end by a much-needed heart transplant.

The brave little lad endured more pain and suffering in his short life than most people have to bear in a lifetime.

It seems so unfair that a child has been taken away before a new heart could be found, one that could give him the chance of the healthy life he never knew.

For the last six weeks of his life he was on 'national and European alert' at Pendlebury Children's Hospital. This means an helicopter was ready to fly out to anywhere where a suitable new organ became available.

Tragically none was found in time.

A case like this reveals the urgent need for more donors.

It must the last thing on the mind of families losing a loved one to think of transplants, and a difficult task for doctors to ask them to consider granting permission at such a time.

But if only the the matter could be discussed beforehand. Just think how many lives could be saved.

Michael's question "when is my new heart coming?" could have been answered if more people thought about the happiness transplant surgery could bring.

Perhaps if we filled in donor consent cards while we were fit and well, our families would know our intentions, and more people could be saved. It's worth thinking about.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.