Transplant sailor back on the helm
by Bob Corfield 10 Feb 2004 12:33 GMT
Life is plain sailing again for kidney transplant recipient Stu Budden – a message he is taking to regattas across the country from now on.
Stu, aged 34, a fanatic racing dinghy sailor, is about to embark on a new sailing season complete with a giant organ donor card graphic emblazoned on the mainsail of his high-tech new Supernova sailing dinghy.
Stu has been sponsored by NHS UK Transplant– the health authority responsible for matching and allocating donated organs and managing the NHS Organ Donor Register - to carry the organ donation message.
He has also named his new racing boat the Gift of Life to help him carry the message.
Stu, a tyre company technical service manager of Bristol, is back on the helm and fully fit after being diagnosed in May 2002 as suffering from end-stage renal failure.
Stu tried to carry on with his beloved sport but was shorebound for many races. He even bought a camper van to enable him to travel to distant events and still undergo the vital, blood-cleansing dialysis necessary to keep him alive.
He said: “I did manage to sail sometimes after I fell ill– as well as work and do the mundane things of life - but I felt like death most of the time. Then I had to stop whatever I was doing four times a day to hook up to the machine. It just plain wrecks your life.”
He finally had a kidney transplant last September. Now Stu is now looking forward to a full season’s racing - and promoting organ donation.
Stu said: “The boat - especially the mainsail - is really eye-catching. I’m getting fantastic feedback from everyone who has seen it so far - not just sailors - and I’m hoping we can encourage thousands of people to talk about organ donation and join the NHS Organ Donor Register.
“I’ll probably be splitting my time equally between racing and handing out forms to join the register.
“If people could really fully understand the difference a transplanted organ can make to someone like me there wouldn’t be a debate about donating organs. I feel like a whole new man – and it has only happened because of the generosity of the donor and her family. I want now to give something back and this is a good way to do it.”
The Supernova is a new but rapidly growing single-handed racing class and seventeen events dedicated to the boat are held each year. Around 60 Supernovas competed for a national championships last year. Stu will also be taking the Gift of Life- to dozens of other events to race against different classes of dinghy.
Stu normally sails at Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club on Cheddar reservoir and the boat will also be featured on the Supernova class stand at the Royal Yachting Association Dinghy Sailing Show at Alexandra Palace, London, on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 March.
There are currently 7,000 people who need an organ transplant in the UK but the critical shortage of donated organs means only around 2,700 transplants can be carried out each year. Every year nearly 400 people die while waiting for an organ to be donated and many others lose their lives before they even get on to the transplant list
Penny Hallett, UK Transplant’s Director of Communications said: “Whether on or off the water, we want to make organ donation a talking point.
“Stu is a brilliant example of how successful organ transplantation is and we really appreciate the effort he wants to put back in to help other people who are in desperate need of a donated organ to save or transform their life.
“We hope that the sponsorship will encourage sailors and sailing fans alike to talk about organ and tissue donation with their family and friends and register their wishes on the NHS Organ Donor Register.”
Anyone wanting to know more about organ donation or join the register should contact the Organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or visit www.uktransplant.org.uk