Heart
Your heart pumps blood round your body carrying oxygen and nutrients. Without the heart, your organs wouldn't get oxygen. Your heart, either the whole heart or the heart valves, could save the life of someone with heart failure or a heart defect.
Liver
Your liver produces bile to clean out your body. If your liver isn’t working properly, you will feel tired, experience nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, brown urine, or jaundice – yellowing in the whites of your eyes. Your liver can be transplanted whole or in some cases the cells (hepatocytes) can be transplanted.
Lungs
Your lungs supply oxygen to your blood and clear carbon dioxide from your body. Without healthy lungs you can’t breathe properly. Your two lungs could save the lives of up to two people.
Kidney
Your kidneys filter waste from your blood and convert it to urine. When your kidneys stop working you develop kidney failure. Harmful wastes and fluids build up in your body and your blood pressure may rise. You can live healthily with one kidney.
Eyes
Corneas let light into your eyes. If they are damaged you wouldn’t be able to see. The gift of sight is precious. Everyday 100 people in the UK start to lose their sight. Almost two million people in the UK are living with significant sight loss. Your donation could help someone regain their sight.
Pancreas
Your pancreas produces insulin to control your blood sugar. If your pancreas is not working correctly your blood sugar level rises, leading to diabetes. Your pancreas can be transplanted whole or in some cases the cells that produce insulin (islet cells) can be transplanted to treat people with very severe type 1 diabetes.
Tissue
Tissue donations such as tendons can improve many lives every year. Other tissue, such as skin and bone, is occasionally donated. Please note that heart valves and eye donation both have separate sections for you to confirm if you want to donate these.
Small bowel
The small bowel (small intestine) absorbs nutrients and minerals from the food we eat. If your small intestine fails, you wouldn’t be able to absorb food. You would need to get nutrition from an alternative method, such as through a drip into your vein.