Manager John Drew is a living example of why everyone in Bermuda should carry an organ and tissue donor card.

When he turned age 48, he decided to have a thorough check-up with his GP, purely because he thought it would be a good idea.

However, what the doctor had to say totally changed his life for ever. Unbeknown to him, he was suffering from cancer of the liver and needed immediate treatment if the onslaught of the potentially deadly disease was to be slowed.

He had had no symptoms or pain whatsoever.

He then began a two-year journey that would eventually lead him to having a liver transplant.

He underwent numerous treatments and checks, and finally, ten days ago, was given the ultimate gift of life - a new liver.

"I had the transplant on March 30 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and I feel great already," said 50-year-old Mr. Drew, from Hamilton Parish.

"I 'm not in pain at all, and haven't been since the operation. I have to stay in Baltimore for a few more weeks, while they level off my medication and make sure everything is OK, but then I hope to return.

"I'm hoping to be back home at the end of the month, and I will be going straight back to work. I feel as though I could go back to work now."

Mr. Drew said doctors had told him that although they had burned off the tumour, it was only a temporary measure and it was just a matter of time before it grew back more aggressively.

He was placed on a waiting list for a new liver with the New England Organ Bank, and in March decided to move to Baltimore temporarily, so that he could be on hand should a suitable organ become available.

After only a couple of weeks of being there with his wife Paula, the call came in.

"I never actually had any symptoms for the cancer at all, so for me it was just a case of waiting on the list for the call," said Mr. Drew.

"It didn't really change anything. The doctors said I was very sick and the transplant was a matter of urgency, but physically and mentally I felt fine.

"They had treated the tumour, but that was just a stop gap, so doctors wanted to replace the liver, but I felt very well all the way through. I was able to work all the time and was living life as normal."

But Mr. Drew said he decided to move to Baltimore after being told by doctors that he would have to be in the hospital and ready for the transplant just six hours after receiving the call.

"It was looking extremely difficult, if not impossible, for me to get from Bermuda in that time, so I decided to make the move," he said.

Mr. Drew, a fleet manager for Barritt's soft drink company, said the donated liver was given by someone who had lived in Baltimore.

He said he did not wish to go into all the details of how the person had died, but said he had written a letter to thank the donor's family.

One day, he said, he may even like to meet them.

"I feel very grateful," he said. "I'm making enquiries about how to go about meeting the family through the hospital.

"I feel absolutely perfect. I guess I feel lucky to be alive."

But Mr. Drew said there were two messages he hoped to convey by telling his story to The Royal Gazette.

The first, he said, was how important it was for people to get thoroughly checked out by their GP everyone once in a while, especially as they approach 50.

And the other, he said, was to encourage more people in Bermuda to carry donor cards and talk about the issue with their families and loved ones.

"I would urge people to be organ donors," he said.

"It's very evident that transplants are as important and enjoyable for the families who have donated as the people receiving the organs.

"For the donor families to see their loved ones as giving life to other people gives them tremendous satisfaction. They feel as though their loved one has not died for nothing.

"I would just urge people to think about the issue of organ donation. It can change so many people's lives."

Next week the Island is marking Organ and Tissue Donor Week with a number of free health screenings.

On Tuesday, nursing staff will be on hand to test for cholesterol, blood sugar level and blood pressure at the Bank of Butterfield on Reid Street.

On Wednesday, they will be in the MarketPlace supermarket on Church Street, and on Thursday at the Transport Control Department.

For more information about picking up donor cards, or to join the Bermuda Organ and Tissue Donor Association, which meets on the first Monday of every month at the Montrose building at the hospital on Berry Hill Road in Paget, call King Edward VII Memorial Hospital's intensive care unit on 236-1275.