A STROUD grandfather whose life was saved by a kidney transplant has welcomed a new organ donation law which gives hope to people waiting for life-saving operations.

Brendan Conboy, 60, had a kidney transplant last February and said it has transformed his life.

As of yesterday, most adults in England are now automatically considered organ donors, after a change in legislation which was brought about thanks to campaigning by a young boy who got a new heart from a nine-year-old girl who died after a car crash.

"I think it's great," said Brendan, who is a musician and poet, and set up The Door youth charity in Stroud.

"I was on dialysis for two and a half years, and it's not a nice way to live.

"I think it's such an unselfish thing for people to do.

"The person who donated a kidney to me ended up saving four people's lives, with his two kidneys going to two people, and his liver, which gets cut in two, going to two people.

"It's so important, because every year there are 5,000 people in the UK waiting for a transplant. And hundreds of people die each year waiting for a transplant due to a shortage of organ donors."

Max and Keira's law, which came into force this week, sees a shift to an opt-out system, whereby those aged 18 and over are deemed to have given consent to donate their own organs when they die, unless they explicitly state otherwise or are in an excluded group.

Keira Ball saved four lives, including that of Max Johnson, also aged nine at the time, after her father allowed doctors to use her organs for transplants following a crash in 2017.

It is hoped the law, which took effect yesterday (May 20), will lead to an additional 700 transplants each year by 2023, and spark conversations around organ donation.