A few minutes spent online can mean a lifetime to someone else.
That was the message from Queensbury heart transplant patient Carl Whittaker and surgeon Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub at the launch of a new web site dedicated to encouraging people to join the NHS organ donor register.
Athlete Carl, 41, received his new heart at Harefield Hospital in 1984 at the hands of the world-famous surgeon, who has performed more than 2,000 transplants.
The men launched the web site at UK Transplant's Bristol headquarters and Carl presented Professor Yacoub with a memento of the occasion, a glass heart.
Professor Yacoub said: "I have been really privileged to see at close hand what transplantation can do.
"I am privileged to witness UK Transplant's efforts to offer people the chance to sign up to the register via the internet."
After his transplant, Carl was advised to be very careful and take things easy. But he had other ideas, took up sprinting and is now one of the most successful members of the British team in the transplant games.
"I was determined to get myself fit and to make sure that I got the most I could out of life," he said.
He took part in the British games in Edinburgh in 1985, just seven months after his transplant, running 100 metres in 13.3 seconds. He was also world 100m champion in 1995, captaining the British team in Australia.
Now an athletics coach, Carl came back from the most recent world games, in Japan, with two gold medals and two silver.
- UK Transplant's web site is www.uktransplant.org.uk.
For more information, telephone 0845 606 0400.
July 16, 2002 16:00
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