A FORMER Newport Gwent Dragons player on the organ transplant waiting list is calling on Gwent residents to sign up to be organ donors ahead of a landmark change to the law in December.

Rhys Thomas, 33, who is originally from South Africa, is currently on the waiting list after undergoing an emergency bypass following a heart attack in 2012.

The father of four, who won seven caps as a prop for Wales, previously suffered a mild heart attack while training with the Dragons in 2007 but was told he would not be able to play rugby again after a second heart attack five years later.

Doctors told him that his condition, pulmonary hypertension, was so serious that he would not be eligible for a heart transplant. He was given just a year to live.

With little options available to him, Mr Thomas decided to undergo an incredibly delicate operation in Birmingham Hospital to hook his heart up to a machine to help bring his pulmonary pressure levels down.

Although it was a success, Mr Thomas had to teach himself to walk again before leaving hospital on October 2 last year.

He is now hooked up to the machine 24/7 and although it’s restricted his day to day life, Mr Thomas' pulmonary levels have come down and he was accepted onto the organ transplant waiting list in April.

Yesterday marked two months to go until the changes to the organ donation law come into effect in Wales. On December 1, Wales will become the first country in the UK to introduce a soft opt-out system for organ donation.

Under the new system, if people have not registered a decision to either become an organ donor (opted in) or not to sign up (opted out), they will be seen to hold no objection to being an organ donor – this is known as deemed consent.

Welcoming the change, Mr Thomas said: “I think the new organ donation law is amazing, and I don’t think it will be long until the rest of the UK follow suit.

“Organ donation makes such a difference to people’s lives. I’ve met a lot of people over the last few years whose lives have been transformed thanks to receiving an organ transplant.

“No one wants to die, and it’s incredibly sad for donor family members who have lost a loved one, but once you’re gone, you can potentially help so many other people.

“People always have good intentions, but life is busy and sometimes people don’t get round to registering. The new system will make it so much easier.”

For more information, visit http://organdonationwales.org/?skip=1&lang=en.