Summary
In 2014 Polly Weston's sister Lara died. She had just turned 22. Lara and her family had never discussed organ donation, and she wasn't on the register. But when the family were asked if they would consider donation, they said yes. Out of the tragedy of her death, medics managed to donate her organs to four women, while her eyes saved the sight of three men.
In February a bill passed its second reading in Parliament to say that England would seek to move to an organ donation opt-out system - meaning citizens would be presumed to consent to their organs being donated unless they actively withdrew from the system. It seemed like there was universal support for the announcement. Labour were behind it. Newspapers rejoiced.
But having been through the process, Polly's family were unsure about whether this policy change would bring about an improvement in donations.
Now she asks what does organ donation really mean to families - and will an opt out system really make a difference?
Produced and presented by Polly Weston.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box. |
| 0:05.0 | The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from. |
| 0:09.0 | And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.0 | The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.5 | The IRA inmates who found a way. |
| 0:14.5 | I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path |
| 0:19.5 | through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history. |
| 0:25.0 | The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them. |
| 0:28.5 | Escape from the Maze, listen first on BBC sounds. |
| 0:34.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:39.0 | Have you thought about what you want to happen to your body after you die. I have and I've spoken to my |
| 0:46.7 | family and friends about it because they're the ones who will have to make the decision after all. |
| 0:57.6 | I remember them saying how did we feel about the possibility of her being an organ donor. |
| 1:03.0 | In 2014, Laura died. |
| 1:06.0 | That's her mom, and this is her dad. |
| 1:09.0 | I felt the day they harvested, I felt I'd been hit around the head with a cricket bat. |
| 1:15.0 | But that might, I sort of got through it. |
| 1:20.0 | I'm Riana Dylan, and today's seriously interesting story is about the conversation they had when they decided to donate Laura's organs. |
| 1:29.0 | But that conversation, that point of decision, well it could be very different for families in England in the future. |
| 1:36.3 | This is the opt-out and it's brought to us by Polly Weston. This is just my very first recording. |
| 1:47.0 | So... |
| 1:48.0 | What do you mean? |
... |
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