THE FATHER of a seven-year-old boy shot dead in a bungled robbery is campaigning for more organ donations.

Nicholas Green was gunned down on a family holiday in 1994 by attackers attempting to rob his parents as they travelled between Naples and Sicily.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, his parents Maggie and Reg Green, originally from Accrington, made the decision to donate their son’s organs, saving the lives of other youngsters.

The legacy of their little boy has gone on to shape the lives of people across the world and spurred his father, a former Lancashire Telegraph and Fleet Street journalist, to become a campaigner on the issue.

Since his son's death Reg Green, 81, who now lives in California but used to reside in Westwood Street and Avenue Parade, has campaigned tirelessly.

And he penned books on the issue The Gift That Heals and The Nicholas Effect, behind the film ‘Nicholas' Gift’ starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Alan Bates.

Reg, who emigrated in 1970, is travelling to the UK in February to give a speech in London.

In his book he describes the moment that changed their world forever: “Through the night we heard loud, angry, savage cries.

"It seemed to me that if we did stop we would be completely at their mercy.

“We raced alongside each other at top speed through the night.

"Any illusions that this was just a reckless prank vanished, as a bullet shattered the window where the two children were sleeping.”

Nicholas died of his injuries three days later.

The family, although wracked with grief, donated Nicholas’ organs to seven critically ill Italians, four of them teenagers.

At the time Italy had one of the lowest rates of organ donation but the Green’s example “electrified Italy” and led to a four-fold increase in donation rates.

He said: “It is a very difficult decision for some people, but for us, we just looked at Nicholas on that last day and we knew he didn’t need that body any more.

"Though it is not always a comfort at the time, it always is later, when you witness the lives that have been saved.”

For more information on the campaign in Nicholas’ memory, visit www.nicholasgreen.org.