Leeds United stars urge fans to join them in backing Be A Hero

The likes of Sam Byram, Scott Wootton, Gaetano Berardi and Mirco Antenucci have joined our Lycra-clad superhero mascot in backing the Be A Hero campaign.

With just days to go until the Sky Bet Championship kicks off, the quartet took time out of pre-season training to offer their support to the initiative, organised by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH).

Be A Hero is urging people in Yorkshire to sign the NHS Organ Donor Register after it emerged that just 29 Leeds families, and 114 Yorkshire-wide, donated organs last year as around 800 desperately ill people in the region await transplants.

Fans’ favourite Sam Byram said: “We feel very strongly about supporting this important campaign. The circumstances surrounding organ donation have affected, and continue to affect, so many families and communities in our region, and we are pleased to be able to do our bit to raise awareness of the number of people on the transplant waiting list in Yorkshire and hope many people will be touched by the Be A Hero campaign and sign the donor register.”

The campaign has so far gained a string of high-profile supporters including cricket heroes Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Joe Root, and the Duchess of York.

Scott Wootton said: “It takes just two minutes to sign the donor register. We hope that fans will join us in supporting the Be A Hero campaign.”

The Leeds Transplant Centre has been providing complex specialist transplants for Yorkshire residents for more than 25 years.

Dr Simon Flood, one of LTH’s clinical leads for organ donation, said: “We’re very hopeful that with the support of the club and their loyal fans, more people in Yorkshire will come forward to sign the donor register.”

Click here to sign the NHS Organ Donor Register through Be A Hero.