Eleven families have agreed to donate the organs of their loved ones in the past five months at Hull Royal Infirmary.

Nursing teams have referred 70 patients to the organ donation team at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust since April.

Of those, 11 families consented to organ donation with five proceeding to organ donation.

The figures were unveiled by the team at the board meeting of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust after the trust took part in Organ Donation Awareness Week, when the walkway through the gardens of Hull Royal was lit up with pink fairy lights and staff wore bright pink t-shirts to spread the word.

Specialist nurse Fay Turner said 14 families consented to organ donation for the whole of 2018/19 so having the consent of 11 so far this year was a great achievement.

She said: “We are so grateful to the families of donors for thinking of others and improving someone else’s quality of life when they are facing the most difficult times in their lives.

“It is through their selflessness that other people can get the chance to live a full and happy life and there is no better thing you could do for another person.”

More than 160 people attending Humber Street Sesh agreed to sign the organ donor register and the team has continues to increase the numbers on the register ahead of a change in legislation where consent will be presumed unless a person “opts out” of organ donation.

They will be attending student events at the University of Hull as part of their work to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.