The baby organ donor’s family made a brave choice: could you do the same?
|
Version 0 of 1. My first thought when I read the news about the youngest organ donor in the UK was for the baby’s family, and the nightmare they have been through. You see, I’ve been through it too. My daughter Rose died in 2012, when she was just two and a half, so I understand the pain and confusion they must have faced, knowing nothing could be done to save their precious child. The hoping and praying for a miracle and then that final conversation in a quiet room, with a box of scratchy NHS tissues near to hand. And in their darkest hour, the moment that no one can ever be prepared to face, this courageous family made a wonderful, life-changing, life-saving decision. They chose to donate their baby’s organs. At just six days old, their precious child has become the youngest organ donor in the UK. The child’s kidneys have been given to a patient in renal failure, and liver tissue to a patient waiting for a transplant, in the hope that it will buy them more time while they wait. In the midst of the worst tragedy, there is hope and there is life. The way that death is currently confirmed in babies under two months old means that donation below this age has been almost impossible. However, new guidelines from the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health are expected which will change this, meaning more lives could be saved. This morning I also thought about the families getting that longed-for phone call to say that a donor had been found. Were they at home, with their hospital bag packed and ready to go, or waiting in a hospital ward for that much-needed news? This part I can only imagine, because for us it did not happen. My daughter Rose suffered from restrictive cardiomyopathy, a rare form of heart muscle disease that makes the heart muscle stiff and ultimately unable to pump effectively. She was placed on the waiting list for a heart transplant, but died six months later because a donor heart was not available. She became a statistic: one of the three people who die each day while waiting for a heart transplant. Sadly it is often the youngest on the transplant waiting list who don’t make it to transplant, simply because there are fewer smaller donor organs available: a fact which makes a change to confirmation of death in the very young of huge importance. Rose’s health had deteriorated so much that she was not a suitable candidate for organ donation, but by sharing our story I hope that more people may be encouraged to join the organ donor register and consider signing their children up too. With older children, they may appreciate being part of a family discussion; children often find issues like that more straightforward than we do as adults. For younger children, the decision on whether to join the organ donor register is for the parents to make, but I think it is an important discussion to have. My question would be: if your child or someone else you love needed a donor organ to survive, would you take it? If the answer is yes, then it’s time to have that difficult discussion, and think about what you would do if you were in the devastating position of that brave family who chose to donate the organs of their baby at just six days old. I’m not telling anyone what to do, just hoping that you will at least think about it. Death is one of the biggest taboos in our society, and the death of a child particularly so. But thinking about it and talking about it will not make it any more likely that tragedy will strike. What it does mean is that if the unthinkable did happen, you would be that little bit more prepared. In the face of tragedy it is important to look for hope. The courage of the family in this case has meant that two people now have a chance of life. For me, I hope that our story may mean that more people join the organ donor register and although Rose could not save a life directly, she may inspire others to do so. That way more families would be spared the agony of losing a child. To join the organ donor register click here, or call 0300 123 23 23. |