Football widow backs World Cup organ donation plea

For Kelly Bossons one of the most powerful memories of the days following her fiance Jordan Sinnott's death, was watching a helicopter leave the hospital carrying an organ destined for someone whose life depended on it.

"It really brought it home just how much our decision would mean to somebody else," she said.

Jordan, a professional footballer who was playing for Matlock Town, died in January 2020 aged 25 after being attacked during a night out in Retford, Nottinghamshire.

Kelly, from Newark, is now backing an NHS campaign which is encouraging football supporters to use the break between matches during the World Cup to register as an organ donor.

"Choosing to donate Jordan's organs just made sense," she said.

"He'd confirmed his organ donation decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register a few times throughout his life, which made the decision easy for us.

"It also seemed a waste if we didn't do it, knowing that he could save a life."

She said the family later learned that Jordan's donations had saved seven people and helped others through donated tissue.

"It's just incredible that even after his death, he was able to give something so important to so many people. He'd have been very proud."

The NHS Organ Donation campaign is using the 2026 World Cup to encourage public registration.

The organisation says 1,365 people in England have died while waiting for an organ transplant since the end of the 2022 World Cup.

During the same period, more than 16,000 people across the UK have been added to the transplant waiting list, while the number of donors has increased by only 2%.

Campaigners say recording a donation decision and discussing it with family members remains one of the most effective ways to help reduce waiting times and ensure more people receive life saving transplants.

Kelly said: "Football was Jordan's life and I know he would be behind this message.

"I'd ask people to take two minutes out of their day during this World Cup season to do something he himself had done a number of times and confirm your donation decision.

"Donation can sound scary but as a donor family, you're treated so well.

"We were treated with care and compassion and carefully guided through every step of the process, which made it so much easier."

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