Photographer shines light on children's transplant need

A photographer is exhibiting images of children waiting for transplants, with the aim of encouraging people to talk about organ donation.

Debbie Todd met and photographed 17 children in need of life-saving operations, but said others died before she could get to meet them.

She is being supported by families of both donors and recipients,

Ms Todd, from near Consett in County Durham, said it was a "taboo" subject but people shouldn't be afraid to discuss it.

She became aware of the issue after meeting the family of Beatrix, a two-year-old from Burnopfield, County Durham, who needed a new heart.

"It never entered my brain there were hospitals full of kids waiting for organs," Ms Todd said.

She said: "This is not a campaign to force people or say 'you are a bad person if you don't donate', but rather just to get people talking and thinking about it.

"I just want to make it a normal conversation."

She said the pictures were meant to "evoke emotion" but not sadness, adding: "These are hopeful pictures, these children have hope."

Each child is pictured with a red phone to denote the potentially life-saving call they are either waiting for or eventually got.

She held a short exhibition as part of her masters degree in photography with the Northern School of Art and her pictures are now being used as a campaign by Red Sky Foundation, a Sunderland-based charity that supports children with heart problems.

Ms Todd is also hoping to hold future exhibitions and appealed for anyone with potential venues to get in touch.

Here are some of the children she met.

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].