A man who was told his new heart might only last seven years is running marathons 13 years on and fronting a bold new TV campaign.

‘We Need Everybody’ is the message behind the latest government drive to boost donor registration rates in Scotland.

People of all shapes and sizes, ages and ethnicities have stripped off and bared (almost) all for an advert, including Gordon Hutchison, from East Kilbride, whose life was saved by a heart transplant at the age of 13.

The government hopes the advert will shatter some of the myths around transplantation, including age being a barrier to donation.

The latest figures show that 540 people people are waiting on a life-saving transplant with 43 per cent of the population on the organ donor register.

A total of 480 people have died waiting for the call across the UK in the past year.

Gordon was born with a heart defect, and was given a new valve at 11 months. However, when he was 13 the valve failed and his family were told that a transplant was the only option. Thankfully the wait was short for Gordon but doctors warned his parents that the new heart would not last forever.

Gordon, 26, said: “When I had transplant, the life expectancy was seven years.

“I’m now 13 years into it and totally going strong. But I know that heart could fail today, tomorrow morning.

“You’ve just got to take it day by day. The physical effect is a lot easier than the mental effects.

“You have days when you feel tired and panic a bit. Then I get my check-up and feel relieved.

“I remember my childhood at the age of 12. I couldn’t walk 10 feet without being tired.

“Last year I took part in the Glencoe marathon. I run about seven or eight miles three times a week.
“If you have been given this gift you’ve got to use it.

“There is no point getting a transplant and just sitting about.

“It’s a new chance of life.”

Gordon, who runs a property management firm with his two brothers, Alan, 30, and David, 32, said he wasn’t fazed about stripping off for the new TV advert.

He said: “Not a lot stresses me out in life.

“I got the call and thought, ‘hey, why not.’ I spend my life in a shirt and tie.”

He has given his full backing to the Evening Times’ campaign for an opt-out transplant system, where individuals are not required to sign up to the register if they wish to donate organs after death.

He said: “I’m totally for opt-out.

“There is such a small number of people who are eligible to be a donor that you have to do everything you can to increase numbers.”

Gordon married his wife Catriona in three years ago and the couple replaced the traditional wedding favours with organ donor sign-up forms.

Catriona said: “We met through friends. I was having a party and he just turned up. It was love at first sight.. It really was. He’s a big romantic at heart.

“He told me three months into the relationship about the transplant. I think he was worried I would run.

“His motto is, you’ve just got to live each day as if it’s your last.”


To join the NHS Organ Donor Register visit weneedeverybody.org