Organ donation campaigner Lisa wins Woman of the Year award

Lisa underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 2021 after suffering from an aggressive auto-immune liver disease.

She now raises funds for the British Liver Trust, supports people with similar conditions, and raises awareness and understanding of the organ donor system. She has helped countless people and inspired many more to sign up to the organ donor register.

Lisa was secretly nominated for the Gamechanger award by her husband Justin and was revealed as one of the three finalists live on the ITV Lorraine show last Monday (October 9).

A week later, on Monday, October 16, she attended the Woman of the Year awards lunch where she was announced as the winner in the Gamechanger category.

In her acceptance speech she paid a moving tribute to the young organ donor, George, whose liver she received, and talked about the importance of people making their wishes known to their families if they are willing to become organ donors.

It was a whirlwind week for Lisa, whose initial appearance on the Lorraine show on October 9 was a complete surprise to her.

Justin had been told in August that his wife was among the three finalists, and he had been working with the producers ever since to secretly arrange Lisa’s TV appearance. He told her he had won a tour of the TV studios in a competition. The partners of the other two finalists were also in on the secret, and the three couples were escorted around the building by a ‘guide’ who turned out to be the producer of the Lorraine show.

Speaking to the Journal afterwards, Lisa said she had been completely unaware of what was going to happen until the moment the screen doors slid back and the group were led on to the TV set, where Lorraine jumped up to hug her.

She and the other two finalists were then interviewed by Lorraine about the causes they support. Lisa said: “It’s really important to me to talk to people about rare diseases, break myths about organ donation, talk about why people may need a liver transplant, and be there for people who’re going through the same” Afterwards she told the Journal: “I didn’t feel as calm as I looked, my hands were shaking.

“It was incredible to have that opportunity to speak to a big audience about organ donation.”

Since her initial TV appearance she has been bombarded with messages from people saying she has inspired them to sign the organ donation register: “It’s unbelievable the response I’ve had, I’m so grateful to everybody.”

Referring to her husband’s successful deception over the ‘studio trip’, she explained that Justin is always entering competitions and prize draws, so she was just happy that he had won something at last, and didn't suspect anything.

She said: “I’ve surprised him so many times over the years so I think this was the ultimate payback - and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to top it, to be honest.”