A Whitchurch man whose life was saved by a liver transplant is urging other people to sign the organ donor register.

John Wainwright had the life-saving transplant operation just three months ago. The 26-year old was admitted to hospital in August this year after feeling ill and becoming jaundiced, and was later put on the donor transplant list as a matter of urgency.

He said doctors diagnosed Hepatitis Zero Negative, a condition so bad they were amazed he could even walk and talk.

He said if he had not received the transplant so soon, the condition would have started to affect other organs, and he would eventually have died.

“If I had not had a transplant my liver would have got worse until it failed and I would probably have ended up dying.

“One of the counts in my blood was the highest they had ever seen, and they were shocked that I had been able to walk in, let alone hold a conversation.

“I was kept in hospital, and they put me on the register on the Friday night, and at about 8.30pm on the Saturday night they told me they’d got a liver for me and I was having the operation the next morning.

“I was really lucky to get a liver so quickly, it could have been a lot longer, and my condition was deteriorating that badly they had to push me to the front of the waiting list because of how ill I was,” he said.

Mr Wainwright said the chances of finding a suitable liver transplant are slim, because a person’s age and size has to be taken into account. He was put on to the organ donor list when he had his operation, and is now calling for other people to sign themselves up too.

“It has changed my view of organ donation. It’s something a lot of people haven’t really thought about, but now I think it should be compulsory unless you opt out of it,” he said.

Mr Wainwright has returned to work part-time at Secure and Sound, in Whitchurch, fitting security devices.