My daughter had just turned six and for about three months had complained of tummy ache though nothing could be found. Then just after her birthday we took her to the hospital. It was there that they found Skye's heart was enlarged and failing. They immediately put her on drugs.

She made no progress, it was agony, and then one night two weeks after her admittance she suddenly couldn't breathe. She had to be rushed to Intensive Care. That’s when we were told to give her our last goodbyes.

The doctor told us she needed a heart transplant but her chances for getting one was slim. The donor had to be a very specific match because it was a heart we needed, the search was long and hard but eventually a heart was found. That took three months but it felt like a lifetime, we just didn’t know how that story was going to end. We were very lucky to get a transplant at all.

People assume that it’s the elderly or the overweight, or people who like a drink that need a new heart. They don’t think of the kids who find themselves in a life threatening situation which could be so easily prevented. 

On average, three people die every day waiting for an organ to be donated.

The majority of Britons support organ donation and want to donate and yet a mere 29% of us are on the register.

 By switching to an opt-out system, where everyone is automatically on the register, we can eliminate a large cause of the organ shortage: human inertia. We can save money by eliminating the need for marketing campaigns to stir us into action.

If a citizen feels strongly enough, he or she could simply remove himself from the database. 

The opt-out system would save lives like my daughters.