A petition launched by PHA UK member Natalie Kerr to encourage organ donation featured on the front page of a newspaper in her home county of Lancashire.

The Chorley Guardian ran a front page story about Natalie’s campaign for all UK residents to be automatically placed on the organ donor register. It also included two pages inside, and another local paper, The Bolton News, featured the story too.

Natalie received a double lung transplant in 2012, giving her more time to spend with her two children. She launched a petition that called for all UK residents to be automatically placed on the organ donor register, rather than having to opt in. If the law was changed, it would give people the option to remove themselves if they wish.

Natalie Kerr with her two children.

The Chorley Guardian and Bolton News picked up on what Natalie was doing when they spotted her Facebook posts about the petition. They had both printed stories about her when she underwent her transplant.

Natalie, who lives in Adlington, said: “I received phone calls from reporters at both papers and chatted to each one of them for a long time. They were really easy to talk to which I was so grateful for as it’s not always easy for me to talk about what I went through when I was so poorly – it makes me really anxious.”

Since the stories were published, Natalie has seen an increase in people signing the petition and people have spoken to her about PH and what it is.

She said: “I’m really pleased that the articles have helped raise awareness of PH as well as spreading the word about my petition. Don’t be afraid to tell your local papers about any fundraising or anything else you are doing about PH as it’s a great way of spreading the word, and I have had a really good experience with it.”