Art installation will recognise organ donors
A spectacular art installation is due to be unveiled at Derriford Hospital as a public statement of thanks to organ donors and their families.
The Gift of Life Flower Seed Head, designed by Karen and Tony van de Bospoort of Leeds-based Hospital Art Studio, will be unveiled on Monday, December 7.
Made from stainless steel and acrylic the design is a metaphor for survival and is intended to communicate the positive aspects of organ donation and transplantation to patients, members of staff and the public. Alongside the installation will be a plaque recognising the generosity and importance of the act of organ donation.
Martin Walker, Chair of the PHNT Organ Donation Committee, Said: “The Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust Organ Donation Committee wished to formally and publicly acknowledge the profound generosity of organ donors - and their families who so kindly supported their decision - by commissioning a suitable piece of art.
“Every day in this country three patients who are on a waiting list for organ transplantation die. Behind this telling statistic is the day to day suffering and challenges endured by patients with organ failures such as kidneys, lungs, livers and hearts.
“To overcome this burden, the national and local NHS has implemented strategies that successfully increased the number of organ transplants by 30% between 2007/8 and 2012/13. This equates to around 3000 patients having their lives saved or transformed by organ donation, known as the ‘gift of life’.”
There are currently 79 patients on the waiting list for transplants at our Trust.
The art installation has been funded by Plymouth Hospitals General Charity, Spring Intensive Care Charity, the Renal Research Fund and senior medical staff at Derriford.
Tony and Karen van de Bospoort of Hospital Art Studio have been creating award-winning, hospital artworks for more than 15 years. Tony said: “The design provides a strong metaphor for survival – the seed heads being nature’s timepiece and the seeds themselves leading to regeneration, restoration and the continuation of life. It will provide a focus of attention in the main concourse and be a fitting tribute and recognition of the generosity contained within the act of organ donation.”
Previous work by the design company (Hospital Art Studio) has been nominated for an award at the 2015 Building Better Healthcare Awards and won silver at the Worldwide FESPA large scale printing awards in Cologne.
Jackie King lost her daughter Emily in 2005 and Emily’s organs were donated. Jackie said: “The artwork is a wonderful tribute to all those who gave the gift of life and symbolic of life flourishing for those whose lives have been saved or transformed as a result of organ donation.
“Although she was not fortunate enough to live a long and happy life, she was able to give to others that opportunity – a life full of hope, health and happiness. My daughter’s act of generosity has kept on giving long after she died and words fail to say just how incredibly proud myself and her brothers are of Emily.”
