A man who saw disease “destroy” his lungs is celebrating his tenth extra Christmas since a lifesaving lung transplant.

Joe Russell, 47, was born with a severe form of cystic fibrosisand as a child was told he was not expected to survive to be a teenager, as transplant technology was in its infancy. Despite being extremely academic, Joe didn’t go to university as he felt there was no point as the genetic condition caused increasing breathing and digestive problems.

Joe said: “My incredible medical team did everything they could for me but ultimately the disease destroyed my lungs. I was not expected to live to be a teenager.

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“When I reached my mid-30s, machines were keeping me alive as my lungs had become very damaged. I struggled to talk or stand, needing constant oxygen and intravenous antibiotics all the time. The difference is life and death. Without a transplant, I would not be here.”

Ten years ago a lung transplant saved Joe’s life when he was really struggling in December 2015. He said: “Before my operation even the most basic of tasks was beyond me because I was so unwell. I know my donor family must be heartbroken, and it is hard to find the words to say to them. I think they and my donor are amazing. I owe my life to a man I will never know, I think about him single every day.

“I feel desperately sad that more people are waiting and people are dying every day, and also guilty. I deserve this chance no more than anyone else, yet luck has given me what it denies others. Every life lost because of the lack of organs is a needless death and this is a tragedy.”

Joe, from Worthing, Sussex, is now fronting a video campaign for NHS Blood and Transplant calling for people to sign the organ donor register. It comes as a record 8,000 Brits, including 250 children, face Christmas waiting for an organ transplant. The ‘Hope Takes Flight’ social media videos have the theme of paper aeroplanes, inspired by Joe’s work as an origami artist. It features Joe’s story along two other powerful recipient stories and a child organ donor story.

Joe said: “I’ve spent a huge portion of my life either in hospital or too unwell to leave my home, often even my bed. Yet in nothing more than a piece of paper, there existed the whole world, the ability to create that which I couldn’t experience for real. Medicine has cared for my body, but origami has cared for my mind.

“In the video, the plane that binds the individual stories together. It is an attempt to make the quite abstract idea of donation, the passing of life from one person to another, tangible. This is the story of how organ donors, and their families in consenting, keep other families together. If you can imagine the pain of losing your own family, then please watch and share the video, because you can help spare others that pain. You may, one day, help spare yourself it.”

After years of campaigning by the Mirror, the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act - also known as "Max and Keira's Law" - came into effect in England in May 2020. It brought the country into line with the system in Wales and Scotland, then Northern Ireland followed suit in June 2023.

There is now an ‘opt-out’ system meaning that adults are presumed to be organ donors after their death unless they have specifically registered as not wanting to donate. However, crucially, grieving relatives can still veto transplants. Joe said: “Amidst the incredible emotion of a loved one’s passing, it is of course very difficult to think about consenting to donate someone’s organs.

"Without knowing a loved one’s wishes, many families understandably decline to consent. Confirming your decision on the register and telling your family will allow them to honour your wishes. Today, this is more important than ever, because the number of people waiting for a transplant is at an all time high. Every day, people die for lack of organs. Had my own donor and his family not discussed donation during his life, I would likely be part of this statistic. Instead, I am alive, and my donor lives on.”

Christine Cox, whose family campaigned for and established the first national NHS Organ Donor Register, is backing the Hope Takes Flight campaign. She started her campaigning alongside her mother Rosemary and father John, in memory of her brother, Peter, who died in 1989, which led to the creation of the register in 1994.

Christine recently met Joe at an awareness raising event in her home city of Wolverhampton. Christine, aged 63, said: “Meeting Joe was a great honour. Hope takes flight is a brilliant project showing how people can be connected through the altruistic gift of life.

“I am sure this project will help start the conversation that we all need to have this Christmas as families and friends gather. Please discuss your wishes and find out what your family and friends wishes are too."

To register your organ donation decision call 0300 123 23 23, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or use the NHS app in England.