More than ten years on since her kidney transplant former Top of the Pops floor manager Sara Griffiths still feels like number one. The 46-year-old from Raglan, used to be so weak she needed the help of an aid when walking, while some days she could barely even brush her own hair. In her own words she was at breaking point and unable to look to the future, but thanks to the generosity of a donor she was given a second chance and now treasures every day with a new found passion for life. Sara, who is also a pancreas transplant recipient, was diagnosed with diabetes when she was just 12-years-old. By the age of 27, the condition had damaged her kidneys forcing her to need dialysis three times a week. "The news came as a complete bolt out of the blue," remembers Sara. "When I was told I needed dialysis I just felt myself fall apart." It was 1992 and Sara was working at the BBC. Eventually she moved to South Wales, but during her time in London worked on shows like Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Comic Relief and Later With Jools Holland, as well as Top of the Pops. As much as she loved her job, kidney failure was making life more and more difficult. "I had been on dialysis for three-and-a-half years, but it felt like 30. By that stage it had really started to get to me. My energy and motivation to get through it had just completely evaporated. My mum was dying with cancer at the time and it was just so difficult coping with everything," she said. Feeling at breaking point Sara had given up hope of a kidney being found by this stage, when suddenly she got the call that would transform her life. "It was May 31, 1995 – 5am to be exact," she smiles. "By then I was physically very weak. I felt so drained that there were moments when I couldn't even brush my hair. "The phone went and I remember shouting: "That's my transplant!" I just knew it was. I was living with my parents at the time – they were so worried about me they moved closer to London so we could be together – and remember rushing into their bedroom to grab the phone. "The transplant co-ordinator said they had a kidney for me. Inside it felt like it had come just in time." Sara says she felt like a new person after the transplant and amazingly has never used a walking aid again. Six months after the operation her mother sadly passed away, but died happily knowing her daughter had been given a second chance. In 2006 at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff Sara's life was further transformed by the gift of a pancreas donor. As well as being dialysis free she is now no longer dependant upon insulin injections and says her new found freedom is something she treasures. "I was a diabetic for more than 30 years and know how debilitating dialysis can be. That is why I thank my donors every day because without their gift I would have no life and I love my life so much. "Two people were kind enough to want to help others when they died and that's why I have been given this chance. There really is no more an amazing gift than that." Now Sara, who is again stage-managing this year's Raglan Music Festival, is backing a pioneering campaign aimed at increasing the number of organ donors in Wales. The Donate Wales – Tell a Loved One campaign, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and led by the Kidney Wales Foundation, sees nine major charities come together for the first time in the UK to tackle the shortage of donors. It is also the first time there's been an organ donation campaign unique to Wales. Around 470 people in Wales are currently waiting for an organ transplant, but with a desperate shortage of donors many face the reality of having to wait years and the possibility they may even die while waiting. In the last five years, more than 750 lives have been transformed by a transplant and the generosity of a donor. Sadly, in that time 150 people have died while waiting for a suitable donor organ – the equivalent of one person every fortnight. More than 780,000 in Wales have joined the Organ Donor Register but that leaves three in four who haven't. Many people do not talk to their loved ones about their views on organ donation, which means that families often refuse to allow organs to be donated simply because they are unaware of their wishes. The campaign, which is backed by a number of Welsh celebrities, will run until September 2008, and is set to get us talking about what we want to happen to our organs when we die and to encourage more of us in Wales to join the Organ Donor Register.
