Having been ill for many months, in October 2009 I had a lung biopsy to determine what I was suffering from.  At the same time my sister – Sue – donated a kidney to a very good friend of hers and whilst she and I were recuperating we would phone each other regularly.  I was truly inspired by Sue – she had literally saved and transformed her friend’s life.  I started to think “what can I do, that will make a difference?”

In January 2010 I got the diagnosis I was dreading - two serious lung diseases.  Organising fibrosing pneumonia and idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis.  The long and short of this is that my lungs are fibrosing which means breathing is going to become more and more difficult and a lung transplant will be not only necessary – it will be my only option.

The amazing fact about the second disease is that it is so rare that I am the 8th person on record in the world to be diagnosed with this condition.  That certainly puts a different slant on it all as there obviously is very little known about it.

Time has become very special to me.  I want some good to come from these diseases that will take my life if I don't get the transplant. I want to encourage more people to become organ donors.  After speaking with some doctors about organ donation they told me that unfortunately many people fill in those little donor cards and then over the months and years they lose them.  The NHS is trying to encourage those who believe in organ donation to register online.  It was at that point that Save5 was formed in my mind.

I personally paid for 1,000 Save5 badges because my first goal was to get 1,000 extra people registering as organ donors knowing that we could make a difference to so many people.

What makes Save5 so special are the badges.  They are unique and stand out and I encourage everyone to wear them because then it is a visual reminder to others – if they so choose to – to register as an organ donor.

As to how I feel about having these 2 diseases now.  Well in truth I now know why I have these 2 diseases.  It is because if I didn’t Save5 would never exist and the fact that I will, with the help of others registering as organ donors, mean that we could save or transform many lives – I’ve come to terms with having the diseases now – no matter what the outcome is for me. 

And now that I have achieved my first goal - my next goal is to get 10,000 extra people to register as organ donors.  Just imagine the difference that we could make to so many people.