NUH News SPRING 2017

4
SpotlightOn
Did you know?
5,000
is the estimated number of doors
across QMC
The brave
families who
give the gift
of life
You can be an organ donor at
any age; Charlotte Chevli was
the youngest of three daughters,
the family joker, and known for
her kind attitude towards others.
Despite her sudden death in 2014,
aged just seven, her family believe
something positive has emerged
from the tragedy.
Charlotte, who lived near Lincoln with
her two sisters Eleanor and Sophia,
mum Kate and dad Bob, became an
organ donor, which gave the gift of
life to four people after her death.
Her lungs went to a girl aged around
10; her liver went to a one-month-old
baby boy; one kidney and pancreas
to a woman in her thirties, and her
other kidney was donated to another
woman who was also in her thirties.
Charlotte’s father, Bob Chevli, said
the donors have described how
“transformative” this experience had
been for their lives. “This really was
uplifting,” he added. Reading about
the effect of Charlotte’s donation,
“had a big impact on us” said Bob,
who explained that the family had
decided to donate organs because, “it
seemed like doing something positive,
out of a wholly negative situation."
When Charlotte was taken
into Paediatric Intensive Care at
Nottingham Children’s Hospital, Bob
says: “It was a terrible situation but
(organ donation) was something we
could do to help other people."
Charlotte, who was a pupil at
Potterhanworth Church of England
Primary School in Lincolnshire, suffered
a cardiac arrest in September 2014.
Among many other things, the Chevli’s
youngest daughter is remembered for
being “kind, helpful and funny; always
laughing” and having an “incisive
wit”. She loved dancing and attended
several after school clubs.
Her father Bob, who works in the
defence industry and was previously
a distinguished RAF pilot, said: “Our
motivation was to do some good.
There was a net positive because the
small amount of pain and difficulty
we had to experience going through
the organ donation process was more
than outweighed by the positive effect
of hearing the recipients’ stories.”
Sign up to save
lives in 2017
Over the last five years in
Nottingham, 123 people have
donated their organs to provide
the gift of life to others, after their
deaths.
However last year, nine people died in
Nottinghamshire because there wasn’t
a suitable organ available when they
needed it. Every day in the UK, around
three people who could have benefited
from a transplant die because there
aren’t enough organ donors.
Nationally in the UK there are over 6,500
people waiting for an organ, with most
– over 5,000 of these people – waiting
for a kidney transplant. Last year in
Nottinghamshire there were 148 people
were waiting for a kidney transplant.
Now for 2017, NUH is asking patients,
Joyce’s story
Teacher and mother Joyce Francis,
who lives in Nottingham, had a second
successful kidney transplant in June
2015 at City Hospital.
After being on dialysis for two years -
which saw her hooked up to a dialysis
machine for almost nine hours a night,
seven nights a week – Joyce said,
“I feel I am coming back to life. I have
more energy and feel much better in
myself. Since my transplant, I have
completed a Master’s Degree in Theology
which I would not have been able to
consider before. As a parent, I have the
health and freedom to be fully involved in
family life.
“I have a new lease of life; it’s amazing
what I have achieved. I’ve also been able
to go out and socialise with members of
my church, friends and family, particularly
on special occasions such as birthdays.
Before, while I on dialysis, I was almost a
recluse.”
Joyce strongly urges people to sign the
organ donor register. “You have the
potential to help individuals who want to
do amazing things, and your legacy will
continue.”
visitors and local people to help more
people to transform their lives. There
is something that every one of us can
do to increase the numbers of patients
who can be helped – and it is as simple
as logging on and signing up to the
NHS Organ Donation register. Joining
the Organ Donation Register means
that your wishes and preferences will be
officially recorded, so that your organs
can be used to help save lives in the
future. By signing up to the register, and
sharing your decision with your family
so that they are aware, you could be
helping to save more lives.
NUH is the regional centre for organ
donation and the specialist team based
at QMC works tirelessly to ensure that
all suitable organ donations go to help
Organ donation
– how it changes lives
Janet’s story
Janet Tilford became ill at the
beginning of May 2015 with a liver
problem which it shortly became clear
was a serious condition, resulting in
liver failure.
Janet explains how, given just days to
live, her life was transformed thanks to
a liver transplant: “I had a very rare liver
condition. My family had to watch me
get worse and the only thing that could
save my life would be a transplant.
“It was a traumatic time for them, but
because someone had decided to be
on the donor register, and their family
agreed, my life was saved.In fact the
donor potentially saved or changed 4
peoples lives.
“These sort of things seem to happen
to other people, but it could be anyone
of us needing a transplant – look at me!!
I am sharing my story in the hope that
you would consider going on the Donor
Register, talk to your family and join
online.”
Janet says, “I am so lucky and grateful to
be alive.”
patients waiting for transplants here in
Nottingham, and across the country. City
Hospital is a specialist centre for kidney
transplants, with many lives transformed
and saved thanks to people who make
the commitment to donate.
Lorraine Hogg, Specialist Nurse-Organ
Donation at NUH, said:
“Whilst we encourage people to register
their wishes on the Organ Donor
Register, it is important to inform family
and friends of your wishes. Many donor
families say that donation helps with
their grief and they feel enormous pride
knowing that their loved ones have gone
on to save lives after they died. This also
makes the decision to support organ
donation easier at an emotional time,
knowing your loved ones wishes.”
If you needed an organ
transplant, would you have
one? If so, please help those
in need of a transplant by
opting to donate organs
and tissue. The reality is that
any of us are more likely
to need a transplant than
we are to become a donor.
It is Important to make
a decision about organ
donation in life and to share
that decision with your
families and friends.
Keith Rigg, Consultant Transplant
Surgeon, City Hospital
Infobox
It takes just two minutes to join
the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Register online at:
www.organdonation.nhs.uk
Or call 0300 123 23 23
@nottmhospitals
facebook.com/nottinghamhospitals