A MUM-of-two who received a life-changing organ transplant 15 years ago is urging others to talk about donations.

Lucy Johnson, a teaching assistant from Barrow, was given the gift of life on March 9, 2006, when her sister Nicola Mulroy underwent an operation to give her then 23-year-old sister, who faced a lifetime of dialysis, one of her kidneys.

Mrs Johnson was in desperate need of a kidney after going into renal failure two years previous, having been diagnosed with Goodpasture’s syndrome - a rare condition where a person’s antibodies attack the membrane in the kidneys.

15 years since going under the knife at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, the now 38-year-old is still ‘filled with gratitude’ over her sister’s donation.

She said: “It’s a massive achievement. 15 years is quite a big chunk of time.We always have a kind of celebration every year`and I always get my sister a bunch of flowers on the anniversary.

“I would never have been able to have another baby, gone back to college and worked full time without her. It’s amazing.”

In Cumbria, 212,808 people are currently on the NHS Organ Donor Register, with 13 people becoming donors in the last year, but the NHS needs more people to talk with their families about their decision.

Research shows that the biggest barrier to talking about organ donation is that it’s never come up in conversation with 34 per cent of people stating this as their reason and 27 per cent say they are worried it will upset their family or make them feel uncomfortable.

However, Mrs Johnson said although it’s an uncomfortable topic, it’s a necessary one.

She said: “Nobody likes to talk about organ donation or dying. It’s an upsetting topic but you definitely have to think about these things. I was only 20 when I got renal failure. I needed a transplant and had never really thought about anything like that before.

“Once it happens to someone you know, you talk about it more. It’s a sensitive topic but don’t be afraid to open up about it and have a discussion with your family.

“Do your research, speak to people. It was the best way forward for me.”