PEOPLE are being urged to become organ donors for National Transplant Week as new figures reveal there are 75 people waiting for life-saving transplants in Bolton.

The data also shows that three people in Bolton died while waiting for organ donations between April 2011 and April 2012, and one person has already died while waiting for a kidney transplant since April this year.

There are 66,628 people in Bolton on the NHS Organ Donor Register, but health chiefs say people need to register to help save lives.

This week is National Transplant Week, which aims to raise awareness of the register and encourage more people to sign up.

One person who knows the value of organ donation is mum-of-two Natalie Kerr, whose life was saved in January when she underwent a double-lung transplant.

The 30-year-old former Royal Bolton Hospital nurse from Adlington said she will always be grateful to her donor.

She said: “It has given me a second chance at life and it means I can get to see my children grow up.

“Without my transplant I would have died, but now I can make the most of my life.

“There are so many people out there waiting for organs that could have life-saving transplants if more people joined the register.”

In Bolton, 62 people are waiting for kidney transplants, five for kidney and pancreas, four for lung transplants and four for a liver transplant. Between April 2011 and April 2012, there were 39 organ transplants in Bolton, which was down on the previous year when there were 41.

So far this year, there have been nine transplants in Bolton.

Last week, youngsters at Blackrod Church School were celebrating after winning two national awards — Best Film for a Junior Audience and the People’s Favourite Award — at the of the Organ Donation Through a Lens competition run by the NHS as part of National Transplant Week.

Sally Johnson, the NHS Blood and Transplant’s director of organ donation and transplantation, said she hoped the competition would encourage people to sign up to the register. She said: “If you join the ODR, tell the people closest to you. Otherwise, your wishes may come as a surprise at a time when they are trying to deal with their loss.”

To add your name to the NHS Organ Donor Register, call 0300 1232323, text JOIN to 84880 or visit transplantweek.co.uk.