England Hockey shows support for blood and organ donation

England Hockey will support the Tom Wilson Memorial Fund and NHS Blood and Transplant during Great Britain’s FIH Pro League double-header at the Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre on Sunday.

Wilson died, aged 22, in December 2015, following a fatal accident playing hockey, but as they considered organ donation the family were informed he had signed up to be an organ donor as a fresher at Nottingham Trent University.

That allowed Tom to selflessly donate his organs and tissue to help save and transform the lives of up to 50 people, with the Tom Wilson Memorial Fund (TWMF) charity set up in his memory to help promote organ donation. 

Lisa Wilson and daughter Philippa have since had the pleasure of meeting two recipients of Tom’s organs; Gordon who received Tom’s heart and Fatima part of his liver. 

It has given them great comfort knowing from one tragic end becomes another’s beginning. As an ambassador for Organ Donation Lisa takes every opportunity to talk about the Gift of Life and share Tom’s story. 

The cause is very close to the Great Britain men’s team, a number of whom played with Tom and knew his father Graham, a GB hockey writer and Daily Express sports journalist, who sadly died two months after Tom.

They are proud to show their support for The Tom Wilson Memorial Fund and organ donation at the FIH Pro League in London, when the men’s team will be wearing the NHS Blood and Transplant pink t-shirts for a photo prior to the warm-up hoping to gain additional exposure and awareness for the charity.

Tom’s mum Lisa said: “My daughter Pippa and I are extremely grateful to England Hockey for allowing Tom’s story to be shared, just weeks away from what would have been Tom’s 30th birthday (July 25). 

“All sports carry a risk, so please have the all-important conversation with your loved ones about organ donation. Tom’s decision to sign up as an organ donor has made us so very proud of him. Tom gave the most precious gift of all, the gift of life.”

GB men’s player James Albery added: “Tom was a great hockey player and an even better bloke. Anyone that ever had the privilege of knowing him would agree Tom truly was one of the good guys.

“It is no surprise that his kindness and generosity lives on through his legacy of organ donation.” 

England Hockey chief executive Nick Pink said: “We’re delighted to support the Tom Wilson Memorial Fund and NHS Blood and Transplant at the FIH Pro League event in London on June 4. 

“Tom’s selfless act of signing up to organ donation transformed the lives of others, and this is an incredible act of kindness which we hope others will follow. We hope that the activity at the FIH Pro League will raise awareness of this very worthwhile cause for NHS Blood and Transplant.”  

NHS Blood and Transplant is a blood and transplantation service to the NHS, looking after blood donation services in England and transplant services across the UK. This includes managing the donation, storage and transplantation and researching new treatments and processes. 

To find out more about how you can sign up for organ donation visit http://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk

To find out more about the Tom Wilson Memorial Fund and donate to the cause, visit http://www.tomwilsonmemorialfund.co.uk