An ICU nurse has written a children’s book which aims to educate children on organ donation in a way that is accessible and age-appropriate.
All profit is being given to the Donor Family Network, a charity which seeks to raise awareness and educate people on becoming organ donors.
The picture book, titled ‘Freddie and the Magic Heart’, follows the story of a little boy called Freddie whose Mum is very unwell. Freddie’s Dad explains that by donating her heart, she will live on through someone else and help save them.
Author Mark Ainscough said:“Often, people don’t think too much about organ donation until they are confronted with it in terrible circumstances,” he said.
“I tried to imagine how hard it would be to communicate this to a child and felt that it would be beneficial to have a children’s book that was engaging and fun to read about organ donation.”
Ainscough wrote the book in just two weeks and crowdfunded £2,510 to get it on the shelves. The NHS Blood and Transplant Organ Donation Committee provided a further £2,000 towards print and distribution.
Every nurse specialising in organ donations at hospitals across the UK will also receive a complimentary copy of the book.
Angie Scales, a paediatric lead nurse at NHS Blood and Transplant, the service which oversees organ donation in the UK, said: “I’m sure Freddie and the Magic Heart will help many families at a tragic time and prompt more family conversations about organ donation.
“We need families to talk about organ donation for all members of the family, including children, and to confirm their decisions on the NHS Organ Donor Register.”
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