Vinnie Jones says his wife's heart transplant saved her life - and his

Vinnie Jones has praised the life-saving organ law change – and hailed his late wife’s heart transplant.

The ex-soccer hardman told how he supports the move to an opt-out donor system, which will come into force in May following the Mirror’s successful Change the Law for Life campaign.

He also revealed that his beloved wife Tanya’s heart operation three decades ago “saved my life, not just hers”.

The Mirror campaigned for the opt-out change, known as Max and Keira’s Law, which is set to save an estimated 700 lives a year.

Keira Ball, who died in a car crash at the age of nine, saved four lives – including that of fellow nine-year-old Max Johnson – after her father allowed doctors to use her organs for transplants in 2017.

Footballer-turned-movie star Vinnie, 55, said of the new law: “I think it’s fantastic. My feeling is that more people would want to donate than not donate so the turnaround is the better option. I know it’s going to save lives.”

Mum-of-two Tanya, 53, died last July after a lengthy cancer battle. But she had suffered heart failure aged 21 after giving birth to her daughter.

Vinnie told how Tanya received the “fantastic gift” of a new heart from the family of a 10-year-old German boy killed in a car accident.

He said: “Tans had a transplant after her heart collapsed giving birth.

“If you kneel down in front of the pearly gates and say, ‘Give us five more years with her, give us 10 years’ – you take that.

“We had 32. It saved my life, not just hers.”

In an emotional interview with the Sunday Mirror last October, Vinnie revealed how he believed Tanya would be waiting for him in the afterlife.

Vinnie Jones previously told the Sunday Mirror he believes his wife is waiting for him on the other side (Sunday Mirror)

He told BBC's Inside Out Yorkshire: “I’m content to crash through the rest of my life in heaven’s waiting room until Tanya calls me.

“But I want to live to do the right thing by our daughter Kaley and Tanya’s family. She’ll call when the time is right.”

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Before Tanya’s death, the couple lived in Los Angeles but Vinnie has since moved back to London.

“There are so many memories there – it is too painful,” he said. “I had to sell up.”

• The full interview will air as part of BBC's Inside Out Yorkshire on Monday at 7.30pm.