The family and friends of a Brecon man who has been waiting for a heart transplant for more than three years have walked up Pen y Fan to help raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.

Kal Sandhu, 52, was born with a congenital heart condition.

He has had open heart surgery twice, as well as several other heart procedures. He needs to travel to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff every three weeks for transfusions to keep him alive.

He has now been waiting for more than three years for a heart transplant.

Kal’s family and friends joined together to walk up the highest mountain in South Wales to ‘Turn The Peaks Pink’.

The walk, which took place on Friday, September 27, was part of this year’s Organ Donation Week.

Organised by NHS Blood and Transplant, walks took place across the UK last week. Groups of people affected by organ donation - including donor families, NHS staff, transplant recipients and their friends and families - walked up several UK mountains, including Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon).

The message for the walk was simple - organ donation changes lives. Make sure that you register your wishes on the organ donor register, whether you are opting in or opting out, and also tell your family what your wishes are.

Kal’s wife, Ros, told the B&R: “Kal became seriously ill in September 2020. Since then, myself and our two daughters have watched Kal’s heart failure make him weaker and, as a result, his world has got smaller.

“Kal used to love walking and cycling in the Bannau Brycheiniog – indeed he was out cycling when he had his cardiac episode.”

“We all live in a limbo state between grief and hope with lots of uncertainty and fear at times,” she said.

Joti, Kal’s 16-year-old daughter said: “Since my dad became ill, we’ve learnt that there are lots of families who find themselves not knowing what a loved one would want when the worst happens, that must be so hard.

“The most loving thing we can all do for our family is to share our wishes about whether we are happy to donate, and if so which organs.”

There are currently nearly 8,000 people across the UK waiting for organs. Tragically, in 2023, the highest number of people died whilst waiting, approximately three people - including children - every day. At the same time, 140 families overruled their next of kin’s wishes to save lives by being an organ donor.

Other people who completed the walk up Pen y Fan last week included Jenna Parrish from Brecon, whose son Caleb received his heart transplant on New Year’s Eve 2022.

Caleb had been waiting in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for seven months before he got his heart. Until then he was kept alive thanks to a mechanical heart.

Jenna said: “The walk up Pen y Fan got many people together, like us they know the importance of the gift of organ donation. It was a very moving event to be a part of.”

In 2015, Wales introduced deemed consent for organ donation. This means that people are automatically considered to have no objection to becoming a donor unless they say otherwise.

But one of the major worries from this is that lack of discussion mean some families are choosing to withdraw consent when their loved one has died, due to uncertainty, cultural or religious beliefs.

To register your wishes please go to the Organ Donation Register - it takes less than 2 minutes.

Crucially, don’t forget to talk to your family about your decision: www.organdonation.nhs.uk