WE should all spare a thought today for Daniel Curtin, the eight-year-old boy who has died after being knocked down by suspected joyriders in the North-East.

And we should also think of his mother, Clare, who has shown remarkable fortitude amid unimaginable grief.

Mrs Curtin's decision earlier this week to release a photograph of her son, attached to a life support machine in hospital, is to be applauded because it might just make someone else stop and think of the potential consequences of their actions when they are driving cars.

And her announcement last night that Daniel's organs are to be donated for transplant is inspirational.

On the same day we report Daniel's death, we also publish a story about how the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle has 130 North-East patients - including ten children - waiting for heart or lung transplants.

Many of those patients will die because there are not enough organs being donated. Daniel Curtin's life has been cut short in the most heartbreaking of ways and nothing can bring him back.

But his loved ones can find comfort in the knowledge that they have done the right thing in donating his organs so that others can live.

And if you haven't yet made arrangements for your organs to be donated for transplant after your death, we hope that you decide to follow the example set by Clare Curtin last night.