Controversial kidney donor television show a hoax

HILVERSUM – A Dutch television show recently attracted worldwide attention after it announced that a dying woman was going to donate a kidney to one of three participating contestants who require a kidney transplant. After on-air interviews with the candidates, the woman was to decide on the ’winner,’ who would eventually get the kidney. The program turned out to be a hoax, the ’donor’ was an actress. The contestants who actually are waiting for a kidney, played their part to publicize the extreme shortage of donors in the Netherlands. Although the government has been promoting the concept of living wills, too few people are participating, which has led to the current organ shortage. The show attracted 1.7 million viewers at its climax. In just two days another 50,000 checked the show in BNN’s archive. Since the show, thousands of viewers have requested donor registration forms.