Rhiwbina Living 61

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A Garden of Hope
With the help of the community, one woman is aiming to bring hope to Wales by
building an organ donation memorial garden in Thornhill's Northern Cemetery
Anna-Louise Bates is a woman
on a mission. This autumn,
at the end of National Organ
Donation Week, she is aiming
to open a Memorial Garden in
Thornhill Cemetery.
Anna-Louise's story is one of
tragedy, but also of hope.
In December 2015, just five days
after Wales became the first part
of the UK to introduce a soft optout
system with regard to organ
donation, Anna-Louise and her
daughter Elizabeth tragically lost
her husband Stu and son Fraser in
a road traffic collision just outside
Cardiff.
"Not long before Stu died, he had
been insistent about discussing
organ donation," says Anna-Louise.
"We'd had family around for my
father's birthday and for some
reason, Stu had brought up the
topic for the second time in a few
days. Therefore, when presented
with the question of whether or not
to donate their organs and tissues,
that was one time in that horrific 24
hours that I didn’t have to think what
my answer should be.
“Some weeks before, I had given
blood and also as a solicitor,
I was sadly well-versed with
an understanding of medical
procedures. However, the process
38
of organ donation for me was
still incredibly difficult and the
miseducation, including that of
the soft opt out/deemed consent
aspect, was so apparent. I knew I
needed to do something to attempt
to make this pathway easier for
other people."
So within six days, Anna-Louise
set about creating a charity with the
aim of making a positive change.
"The charity’s mission is to educate
and help spread the word on organ
donation, support those people
involved, and to break down the
taboo around organ donation to get
people talking," says Anna-Louise.
Anna-Louise, along with her
board of trustees, have managed
to accomplish some great
achievements. This includes
educating and supporting people
both locally and internationally,
including the use of their flagship
animation called Fab Gift Of Life.
"We've had help and assistance
from so many Welsh celebrities and
friends, including Mike Young - he's
the man who invented Superted.
He helped us create this animation,
which has become a very effective
tool at raising people’s awareness
about organ donation. With the
backdrop of Castle Coch, it has
already been watched by over 8
million people globally and it also
won the Charity Film of the Year
Award in 2019."
This animation has since been
translated into eight more
languages that the charity seeks to
launch over the next few years. And
it's all part of Anna-Louise's mission
to improve the organ donation
process here in Wales.
Anna-Louise has seen first-hand
the benefits of organ donation. Her
son Fraser's heart went to a boy
called Roman. Anna-Louise went
to visit Roman in London, six years
after donation. Anna-Louise found
this visit life-changing.
“Seeing this little boy brimming
with enthusiasm for everything,
even though he’d been through an
incredible amount already in his life,
reinforced to me that I had made
such an important decision that
day.”
Through her charity work, Anna-
Louise has always been looking at
new ways to educate people on
the benefits of organ donation, and
to help change the process for the
better.
"My focus has always been on
education and support, but actually,
there are so many other things that
can be done; there are other ways
that we can reach people," says