Pictured with his MBE award, Kirit celebrates with his wife Meena, who donated her kidney to Kirit in 2001.

“As Co-Chair of the NBTA (National Black, Asian, Mixed Race and Minority Ethnic Transplant Alliance) and Co-Founder of the ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust), it is with great pleasure that I write these words celebrating the well-deserved honour recently bestowed upon Kirit Modi.

Kirit recently attended Windsor Palace on 28th February 2023 to receive his MBE award. This award was presented by The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, due to his outstanding service to the community, and in particular for bringing greater awareness about living and deceased organ donation/ transplantation. All of this has been achieved despite his own numerous and successful battles against organ failure.

I (and many of you) have personally and professionally known Kirit for a considerable length of time and I have seen a positive difference to the ethnic and national landscape on behalf of organ patients looking for a matching donor. That is in large part to the great and strident efforts and initiatives that Kirit has singularly and collaboratively initiated and led on especially the forming of the Living Transplant Initiative Committee and its associated projects.

From an Ethnic Minority point of view, we have also seen small but significant positive steps towards making it easier for Asian, Black and Minority Ethnic patients to find the best match. Being a parent of a loved one (Daniel De-Gale), who was in urgent need of the gift of life, I totally understand and appreciate the incredible hard work being undertaken by individuals like Kirit Modi.

Therefore, it goes without saying that the leadership and a lifetime of personal and professional experience that Kirit has brought to the NBTA, National Kidney Federation, Institute of Jainology, etc. has ultimately saved many lives, and that is something that money alone cannot buy. But great leadership like Kirti’s can and does make a real difference.

In closing, please join me in raising a glass and making a toast to celebrate this well-deserved honour to Kirit.”

Orin Lewis OBE, Co-Chair of NBTA 

Notes:

Media contact: Kirit Modi ( kiritmodi1@hotmail.com).

For further information about NBTA, visit www.nbta-uk.org.uk