A CYSTIC fibrosis sufferer has pledged his support to an initiative urging more people to join the organ donor list.
The Mercury is backing a campaign by Mike Bowden, of Main Street, Edmondthorpe, who runs the Rutland Organ Donor Initiative.
He set up the initiative to increase the number of people on the organ donor register in memory of his stepson Richard Ogd
en, who died in 2002 aged 19, after suffering from cystic fibrosis. He died a day after receiving a lung transplant.
On Thursday last week Mr Bowden met up with another cystic fibrosis sufferer 20-year-old Alex Stobbs.
Alex, who won a scholarship to study music at the King's College in Cambridge, raised the profile of the disease when he appeared on Channel 4 programme A Boy Called Alex in 2008.
Alex, who is likely to need a transplant in the future, has agreed to become one of the patrons of the initiative.
Mr Bowden said: "Alex is a delightful young man and he has done more to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis than just about anybody else.
"I am really very pleased that he showed such an interest in what I am trying to do and he just thinks the campaign is fantastic."
Mr Bowden hopes to get the Rutland Organ Donor Initiative mentioned on the cover of Alex's book, which is called A Passion for Living, when it is released in paperback in March. During the meeting Alex gave Mr Bowden a copy of the book signed with a personal message.
Mr Bowden has been delighted and overwhelmed by the number of people who have backed the campaign in the Mercury over the past few weeks.
He said: "The campaign through the Mercury has just been outstanding in terms of getting people to sign up to the register.
"I have people come up to me in the street to tell me they've seen the articles and they've signed up. It has been very good for raising awareness and if by the time I pop my clogs I could have saved the lives of just a few people, it will all have been worth it."
He added: "When there is a tragedy it is a great shock for the relatives and it is better for the decision to donate your organs to have been made beforehand.
"I would urge anyone who has not already done so to sign the register and make a real difference to someone's life."
