This Organ Donation Week we have been privileged to speak to donor families and transplant recipients. This is Jacqui’s story.
"My name is Jacqui. And I should be dead - twice over. Thankfully I am not - my life was saved twice by two heroes. Heroes who were complete strangers and I’ll never be able to personally thank them. They are part of me, and part of them lives on in me, every day. This is organ donation - and our story.
"I was 22 when I first became ill. I had bad headaches, tiredness, and bouts of severe vomiting. I would be fine for a period and then take ill, then feel better. This went on for 10 months, and over time the periods of good health got shorter - and the periods of headaches, tiredness, and fluid retention before vomiting got longer.
"I was going to my GP, but as my family and I had suffered the biggest loss of our lives two years before, it was thought I was suffering from grief and PTSD.
"I have no family history of kidney problems and no one knew how ill I actually was. It was when I couldn’t even keep water down that I had a blood test which showed I was low in iron and needed a blood transfusion. Hospital tests revealed that I had 1% kidney function left, and my potassium levels were so high I could have had a cardiac arrest and died within a matter of days.
"The headaches were from my blood pressure being so high. The sickness was my body trying to get rid of the toxins that my failing kidneys couldn’t filter. I was not expected to survive. I started kidney dialysis straight away. This was a long and bumpy experience, during which I was put onto the kidney transplant waiting list. Whilst dialysis can keep you alive, you’re not living your life. I was on dialysis for seven years.
"Then, one Christmas Eve, I got my ‘phone call’. I travelled to the nearest transplant unit and went into theatre 10 mins before Christmas Day. The kidney was a perfect match and started working straight away. Once I’d had a few days to recover from such a big operation, I looked and felt like a brand-new person. The transformation was amazing.
"I was also very emotional as I was fully aware that another family somewhere had lost their loved one at Christmas and were grieving. My surgeon said that nothing could be done to save that person, and their outcome would have remained unchanged whether an organ donor or not, but they were now responsible for saving multiple lives, and had become a hero. That stuck with me.
"For 16.5 years my kidney transplant and I lived our lives to the full. That’s a lot of life I would not have had without my organ donor. I, my family and my friends will forever be grateful to them.
"Over time my transplanted kidney started to lose function, and eventually failed. I had to go back onto dialysis and await test results to see if I would be accepted for the transplant Waiting list. It wasn’t smooth sailing but, thankfully, I was accepted.
"However, due to my declining health, there were big concerns that, even whilst on dialysis, I would not survive long enough to receive an organ. The option of living donation was looked into, but this was not a possibility for me. An organ donor was my only option for survival.
"I was extremely lucky to make it three years before receiving ‘the call’ in February 2022. After successful transplant surgery there were a few bumps in the road. The fantastic team in Edinburgh saved me and helped me through everything, but the kidney wasn’t functioning. At a rare low point, I had a wee chat with my new kidney and made a promise to my new donor that if we survive and the kidney works, I promise we will live life to the full, with new adventures, travel, and fun. The next day my kidney "woke up" and started functioning.
"I have absolutely kept that promise. That’s the best way I can honour them and the precious gift that was given to me, in another family’s most difficult time. Each year on my ‘Kidneyversary’, I light a candle in tribute to both my donors. I simply would not be here today without them.
"Part of my new adventures, travel, and fun promise has been to attend a number of car shows this summer. I have a classic car that I bought six months after my first transplant and, after 10 years off the road, it is now back. It has "Organ Donors Save Lives" on the window, and I share my experience and how organ donation saved me. People say they would never know to look at me - and that is the point. Yes, I’ve been through a lot over the years, but I’m here surviving and living my life, along with my family and friends, all because of organ donation.
"If it helps someone’s decision about organ donation easier as they’ve met or read about someone who’s alive and forever grateful for their transplants, then that’s the best gift I can give back.
"Organ donation transforms people’s lives. Around 7,500 people across the UK are currently waiting for an organ transplant, but only around 1% of registered donors die in circumstances that mean they are eligible to donate. Last year over 415 people died whilst waiting for a transplant, but one organ donor can save up to 9 lives, and even more by donating tissue."