FOR Margaret and Bob Gillies, allowing their son's organs to be donated was one of the hardest decisions they have ever had to make, but they do not regret it.

The couple, from Inverness, were staying at a hotel in Aberdeen when they got the news that their son Stuart, 22, had been in a road traffic accident.

They awoke that Sunday in June 2012 to a text message from the police and an officer at the hotel door. They learned that Stuart, who lived in Edinburgh, had been hit by a taxi just after midnight the night before, after slipping on a grassy slope into the vehicle's path.

"They just told us that we had to get down there straight away - that says it all really," says Mr Gillies, 65, who works in finance at NHS Highland.

The couple got on the first available train to the capital and arrived at the Western General Hospital to be told that their son, who was being ventilated, had severe brain damage. Although he appeared to rally occasionally, Stuart's condition steadily deteriorated until finally, at 11.33am on the Monday morning, his parents were told he was brain stem dead.

In the midst of their grief, Mr and Mrs Gillies were asked if they had considered donating their son's organs. Four months previously, at his grandfather's funeral, Stuart had mentioned to his mother that he would want to be a donor and, knowing that, made a difficult decision a little bit easier. "We decided they could have anything they wanted except his eyes," said Mr Gillies. In the event, only his liver was used, but the couple have taken comfort from the knowledge he was able to give someone a better life.

The Inverness couple were among 100 people who attended a special ceremony in Edinburgh yesterday to remember and honour those who have donated their organs. There were 96 organ donors in Scotland last year and all of their families were invited to attend and receive awards bearing the words "Add life, give hope".

Sir Malcolm Ross, head of the medical and rescue charity St John Scotland, said: "With thousands of people in the UK in need of a transplant, we in the Order of St John felt it was important to say 'thank you' to the families who gave permission for their loved ones' organs to be donated so that others might live.

"These families are an inspiration to all. With around three people dying every day due to the shortage of organs, we hope their pride will encourage many more people to follow in their footsteps."

Stuart Gillies, who was training to be a bricklayer, left behind a three-year-old daughter, Kadie-Maie, and an older sister, Emma, as well as his parents. Mr and Mrs Gillies' emotions are still raw but the fact Stuart donated an organ means a great deal to them. "There's still part of him alive," says Mr Gillies.

"Something good came out of this tragedy," said Mrs Gillies, 50. "I would suggest that everyone speak to their families and get their thoughts on organ donation known because you just don't know when this is going to happen to anybody. You don't think that your children are going to go before you but unfortunately it does happen." Barbara Anderson, 67, from Perth, who also attended the ceremony, had always thought her husband James would outlive her, but in September 2012 Mr Anderson, 65, a retired department store maintenance manager, was out cycling with his grandson, then aged 13, when he was fatally injured.

He went over a huge log, which had apparently been put across the path as a jump for motorcycles, and caught his head, breaking his neck. Although he was taken to Ninewells hospital, he never regained consciousness.

Mrs Anderson says: "I was very keen to help with organ donation because I didn't want my husband's body wasted. Although he was 65, my husband was a very healthy, active man so his organs were in tip top condition."

Mr Anderson's kidneys were given to two men and his heart valves were also used.

Mrs Anderson has taken many months to get used to the idea her husband is gone. She says: "I was with my husband since I was 18 and it was love at first sight. It takes a long time to see any light through this tunnel." Allowing her husband's organs to be donated helped, however, and she urged others to do the same. She said: "Don't hesitate because at the end of the day when you come out into the light you'll see the good it has done."