WHEN NEIL and Sharon Crouch made the decision to donate their 11-year-old son Ryan's organs after he was killed in a car crash they had no idea that less than one month later they would need another family to make the same decision for them.

Today the Daily Echo is launching a campaign to encourage more people to sign up to the organ donor register to help people like Neil after their death just like Ryan did.

Neil, 39, is currently waiting for a kidney transplant after both his kidneys failed in March this year due to his diabetic condition and he knows only too well how important the Daily Echo campaign is.

He said: "My wife Sharon carries a donor card but we never knew just how crucial organ donation is until we lost Ryan.

"It was not an easy decision but Ryan was not a selfish boy and we knew it was something he would want to do. We donated his liver and kidneys and we were told they went on to save the lives of four people and that was one of the biggest comforts to me and Sharon after he died.

"I'm hoping the Daily Echo campaign will encourage more people to join the register."

Neil, a father-of-four has to have dialysis at his home in Hythe about four times a day every day until a kidney match is found.

He is one of 74 people currently awaiting transplants in and around Southampton and while more than 163,000 people in the area have already signed up to the Organ Donor Register, unfortunately there is still a desperate shortage of donors.

Alison Hansford, a transplant co-ordinator for the Hampshire region, is hoping Daily Echo readers who have not already joined the register will do so as part of the campaign.

She said: "We know there are quite a lot of people waiting for a transplant and we know that a number of people have been identified as donors but the gap between the two is around 5,000.

"There are 5,000 more people waiting every year than are being transplanted and we need to reduce that gap. We are trying to make the public more aware of what might happen just around the corner and to think about what they want to happen to their organs after their death.

"By joining the register we can identify those who want to be donors and at the time of their death we can make it just that little bit easier by telling their loved ones or family that this is what they wanted."

For the Crouches the subject of donation was only mentioned to them but they took the decision to volunteer Ryan's organs.

Sharon, 45, said: "The accident happened on a Thursday night and when they took us up to intensive care and they showed us all the scans and told us he had non-survivable injuries, they also mentioned there was a possibility Ryan could be a donor.

"On Friday they said he was not going to survive and that's when we said to them that we would like to donate Ryan's organs.

"I have always carried a donor card since I was 20. I am of the opinion that you don't need your organs when you die but you can help somebody else live by just carrying a car.

For Neil a new kidney will mean a new lease of life and the opportunity to be able to work and have longer with his grandchildren.

He added: "I think people need to be aware of how important being an organ donor is. If you think you can be an organ donor then you should definitely register."

From today the Daily Echo will be printing organ donor register forms for people to fill in and send back to UK Transplant who run the organ donor register.