A NIGHTCLUB is appealing to revellers to rally behind an ex-member in need of an organ transplant.
The Millennium, at Teesside Park, near Thornaby, was already joining forces with Newcastle's Freeman Hospital for the area's first discotheque donor recruitment drive, when staff were made aware of the plight of 34-year-old Louise Burns.
Kash Patel, the nightclub's sales and marketing manager, said: "Louise used to be one of our customers and she is awaiting a kidney transplant. We asked her if there was anything we could do."
Mrs Burns said: "We need more people on the donor register.
"I can't understand why people object to it. They would be saving someone's life when they have lost theirs."
She developed kidney failure at the age of 15, when still a pupil at Langbaurgh School, Middlesbrough. After waiting for a transplant for eight years, she was given a new kidney in 1990 - only to find that her body rejected it.
Now, Mrs Burns, of Fox Howe, Coulby Newham, near Middlesbrough, must endure dialysis three times a week until another donor can be found.
She is supporting the club's Have a Heart promotion on April 27, to encourage more people to carry organ donor cards.
The idea for the promotion sprang from public reaction to revelations about the removal and storage of body parts at hospitals, as highlighted in the recent Alder Hey Hospital scandal.
Mr Patel said: "In light of Alder Hey, there was a lot of bad press about organ donations. Because we have a great footfall of young people through our doors, we thought we would encourage them to become donors."
Mrs Burns and Pam Buckley, a senior transplant coordinator at the Freeman, will be special guests at the promotion.
Mr Patel said: "We are offering a discount to customers who want to come on April 27. We are setting up a Have a Heart guest list for the evening, which people can ask to be on."
Anyone wishing to be included should call the Millennium nightclub on (01642) 608877 and quote the phrase Have a Heart
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