JUST days after New Zealand rugby legend Jonah Lomu died while waiting for a kidney transplant, it has been revealed that more than 70 people in Dorset are desperately waiting for a new organ.

Statistics released by NHS Blood and Transplant reveal that 30 of those people have been waiting longer than two years for a transplant and six have been waiting longer than five years.

Almost 49,000 people in the UK have endured the wait for an organ transplant in the last 10 years and over 6,000, including 270 children, have died before receiving the transplant they desperately needed.

In Dorset 21 people have died between April 2011 and November 2015 because of the shortage of organs.

NHS Blood and Transplant have released the figures to coincide with the launch of a new organ donation campaign, The Wait, to highlight the true scale of the donor organ shortage.

The campaign launches with the screening of a 14-hour film capturing a day in the life of patient Simon Howell, 41, his wife Anita, also 41, and their children Sarah, eight, and James, three.

Born with a serious kidney condition, renal dysplasia, Simon had his first kidney transplant in 2005 thanks to his mum offering to be a living donor. Unfortunately, in 2009, the kidney failed. Simon was added to the transplant waiting list for a new kidney and has been waiting longer than six years already.

He allowed cameras to record the reality of just one of the many days he has spent waiting for a suitable organ, to highlight just how difficult life is on the transplant waiting list.

Sally Johnson, NHS Blood and Transplant director of organ donation and transplantation, said: “Simon’s journey has already been a long and difficult one and while we are doing everything we can to make sure he gets the transplant he needs, the NHS cannot do this without help from other people.

“Sadly though, Simon is not alone. Statistically, more than one in 10 people on the waiting list will die before they get the transplant they need. For some organs, the picture is significantly bleaker. More than one in four people waiting for lungs will die.

“I’d ask you to imagine how you’d feel if someone close to you was waiting for a transplant – their whole life on hold, hoping someone will donate to save them.

"I’m sure we’d all hope an organ would be available to help someone we love - so shouldn’t we all pledge to be organ donors so more lives can be saved?

“If you haven’t told those closest to you that you want to be an organ donor, then please do it today. Tell them you want to be an organ donor and record your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.”

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register please go to organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23 – Now is the #TimeToSign.