THE mother of a teenager waiting for a kidney transplant today urged motorists to use a new scheme to register as organ donors.

Karen Coupe, whose daughter Sarah, 14, has been on the waiting list for two years, says she fully supports the Leave More than Memories campaign by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and UK Transplant, a NHS special health authority.

Under the scheme, organ donor registration forms are sent to vehicle owners with tax reminders in January and March.

More than 7,000 people need a transplant to save or dramatically improve their life. But the shortage of donors means less than 3,000 are carried out each year.

And every year nearly 400 die while waiting and many more lose their lives before they get on the transplant list.

Sarah, of Sefton Farm, in Clayton-le-Moors, was born in 1989 with a hole in her heart and just one kidney.

Within 24 hours she became critically ill and doctors suggested bringing in a priest to bless her, believing she would not make it through the next day.

Unable to breath by herself and suffering from renal failure, a team of doctors at Queens Park Hospital worked through the night and managed to stabilise her condition giving her a chance a survival. In December 1992, she underwent surgery to remove part of her stomach and fit tubes for dialysis and she has had to battle with monthly blood tests and a daily concoction of medication to combat the onslaught of a painful bone disease.

For 10 hours each night she is connected to a dialysis machine and is unable to do certain things like swimming or going to the beach.

Mum Karen, 43, said: "We were told we could be waiting for up to four years and maybe even longer for a kidney. Sarah is a really happy girl who just gets on with things and rarely complains about anything.

"We are waiting for as good a match as possible but unfortunately fewer and fewer people are donating. In other countries they have assumed consent where organs are taken unless it's specified otherwise and there are no waiting lists.

"I think this new initiative is a fantastic idea but if the Government changed its policy and had assumed consent hardly anyone would have to wait.

"The tissue typing is crucial to the success of the transplant and we are looking for a perfect six. Anything less would mean they have to destroy the other mismatched tissue making it then impossible to ever get a better match.

"I myself have registered as a donor and put myself forward for Sarah but unfortunately I am only a three match so unless it becomes critical, they won't use mine."

Around 4.7million motorists have signed up to the NHS Organ Donor Register by ticking the box on their driver licence application form, the main source of registrations.

This new pilot will help give millions more the chance to register their support for organ donation.

If it is successful, UK Transplant hopes to extend the initiative to the drivers of all 30million vehicles registered in Great Britain.