Leeds indie True North has produced a new Channel 5 series that follows the real-life journeys of patients in need of life-saving organ transplants.
The three-part series, called Gift of Life and co-produced by GroupM Entertainment, will focus on patients at the Institute of Transplantation at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.
Filmed over six months, it will focus on six-year-old Ella (above), who suffers from a congenital heart defect and is in urgent need of a heart transplant, and 22-year-old cystic fibrosis sufferer Holly, who is nearing the end of a two-year wait for a double lung transplant.
Channel 5’s factual commissioner, Guy Davies, said: “Gift of Life is a beautifully produced and inspiring insight into the stories of patients and their families who face organ transplantation, often as their final chance. If anyone can convince people to sign up to the organ register, it’s the contributors of this emotional series.”
True North’s Ricardo Pollack
True North’s Ricardo Pollack added: “With exclusive access to one of the world’s leading transplant facilities, this new series shows how successful transplants can completely transform people’s lives.
“By also showing the terrible impact the shortage of organs can have, it highlights the desperate need for a national increase in organ donations.”
The series will be accompanied by a major channel-wide campaign encouraging people to sign up to the Organ Donor Register.
