Kirstie Tancock

Kirstie Tancock (née Mills, died 1 December 2016) was a British organ donation campaigner, personal trainer and pole fitness instructor. She was known for the BBC3 documentary Love on the Transplant List and for organ donation campaigns in England.

Biography

Tancock was born with the chronic genetic disorder cystic fibrosis.[1] She worked as a personal trainer and fitness pole dancing, aerial hoop and aerial silks instructor.[1][2] She lived in Honiton, Devon, England.[3][4]

In 2011, Tancock featured in the BBC3 documentary Love on the Transplant List, which followed her experiences for four months after she was put on the organ donation waiting list, planning her wedding and being resuscitated three days before she wed.[5][6][7] The documentary was also broadcast in the United States on TLC.[8] Tancock's documentary lead to her becoming "the face" of organ donation campaigns in England,[9] working as an ambassador for the transplant charity Live Life then Give Life,[10] and being shortlisted for Cosmopolitan magazine's Women of the Year Awards 2011.[7]

Three weeks after her wedding, Tancock had a double lung transplant.[2] Her lung function had dropped to 16%.[8] The initial donor lungs were found to be too big and her body started to shut down. Another set of lungs was found while she was on life support and she underwent a four and a half hour operation to save her life.[6] After the transplant, Tancock continued campaigning to change the organ donation law, encouraged donor registration and raised money for the hospital where she received her transplant.[3][11]

By 2013, Tancock's body rejected the organs that she had received in 2011 and she underwent a second double lung transplant.[12][13][14] In 2016, Tancock's body rejected the organs from her second transplant, she suffered from pneumonia and a chest infection, then doctors declared her too ill to receive a third transplant operation.[15][16] She died on 1 December 2016 at NHS Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, Devon, England, after going into chronic rejection, aged 27.[1][9][15][17]

Following Tancock's death, her widower Stuart called for a new law in her memory that assumes everyone would donate their organs at the end of their life.[10] Her parents met with politicians to continue their daughter's campaign to change the organ donation law.[16] The Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act was passed into law 2019,[18][19] amending the Human Tissue Act 2004 to change organ donation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to an opt-out programme.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Kirstie Tancock: Devon organ donation campaigner dies". BBC News. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Fitness teacher back in swing after operation". The Times. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Honiton woman selected to share her story on stage". Midweek Herald. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  4. ^ Bird, Jacquie. "Kirstie Tancock: an extraordinary life remembered". ITV News. Archived from the original on 19 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  5. ^ "BBC Three - Love on the Transplant List, Newly wed Kirstie on the edge of life, husband Stuart prays for a miracle". BBC. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  6. ^ a b Bennett, Belinda (1 November 2011). "Love on the Transplant List - Kirstie's story". Midweek Herald. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  7. ^ a b Mullender, Rosie (25 November 2011). "Review: Love On The Transplant List". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Breathless Bride Races Against Cystic Fibrosis to Get to Altar". ABC News. 23 February 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Tributes to transplant campaigner". The Press and Journal. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2025 – via PressReader.
  10. ^ a b "Kirstie Tancock: family want new law created in her memory". ITV News. 13 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  11. ^ "Kirstie Tancock to cycle 180 miles for charity". ITV News. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  12. ^ "Emergency lung transplant could save Kirstie's life". ITV News. 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  13. ^ "Kirstie recovering after second lung transplant". ITV News. 13 August 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  14. ^ "Lung transplant survivors celebrate a healthy Christmas". ITV News. 30 December 2013. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  15. ^ a b Robinson, Imogen (1 December 2016). "Pole dancing star who featured in BBC documentary dies aged 27". The Mirror. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  16. ^ a b Bird, Jacquie (27 January 2017). "Kirstie's legacy: family seek to change organ donation law". ITV News. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  17. ^ Howdle, Jane (1 December 2016). "Pole dancing teacher dies of cystic fibrosis days after writing bucket list". Yahoo News. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  18. ^ "Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 - Parliamentary Bills". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  19. ^ Dyer, Clare (28 February 2019). "Organ donation: England's opt-out system could save 700 lives a year". BMJ. 364: l954. doi:10.1136/bmj.l954. ISSN 0959-8138. PMID 30819675.
  20. ^ "Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019". Legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
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