Wales' life-saving organ donors have been honoured recently, including Anglesey's 33-year-old Jo Binks. On the organ donor register six times, Ms Binks tragically died in January 2023 and managed to save three lives thanks to her heroic decision to donate her organs. Ms Binks and other organ donors from Wales were presented with the Order of St John Award for Organ Donation in an award ceremony in Chester back in May.
The awards, run in collaboration with the NHS Blood and Transplant, were collected by family and loved ones on behalf of the donors. Ms Binks fell ill over Christmas 2022, and in January 2023 had a heart attack. She, unfortunately, couldn't be saved, but her prior decision to join the NHS Organ Donor Register allowed her to donate her kidneys and liver.
Her husband, Sam, aged 31, said: "I was approached by a nurse about organ donation and we talked it over. "It wasn’t a difficult decision, I always knew it was what Jo wanted. "She was on the register and had talked about it.
"I didn’t know she’d joined six times, it is clearly what she wanted, it’s a lot of times to sign up." The couple were active and loved the outdoors, with Mr Binks fondly remembering their adventures. He said: "She was very outdoorsy and was big into kayaking and water sports, mountain biking, hiking, all sorts.
"With her outdoor gear, it had to be as much pink as she could got hold of, as pink as possible." Despite the grief of losing his wife, Mr Binks finds comfort knowing she man.