A GROOM whose life was saved by a heart transplant is swapping traditional wedding favours for organ donor forms.
Gordon Hutchinson, 23, will urge guests to join the NHS Organ Donor Register when he weds Catriona Anderson, 25.
He was born with a congenital heart defect and needed surgery at 11-months-old, with a pig-skin valve inserted to keep his heart pumping.
Mr Hutchinson, now a property manager from Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, was put on the transplant register at the age of 13 after his heart failed, and waited just six weeks for a suitable organ to be found in March 2003.
"If it hadn't been for the selflessness of my donor and their family in agreeing to organ donation, I wouldn't be here today. They saved my life and changed it for the better," he said.
"If I can get people talking about the issue with their families and joining the NHS Organ Donor Register then I've helped in some way repay that wonderful gift."
The couple will wed at Glenbervie House Hotel in Larbert this weekend and will have donation sign-up sheets on the tables in place of traditional favours.
Mr Hutchinson said: "I'm just grateful I can do a little bit to give back to the person that helped save me. If I can encourage just one more person to join the register then I've made a difference."
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