A grieving mother who lost her daughter tragically says knowing she saved four other people's lives will ease her grief over her loss.
Marie Keeley and her husband Dennis, from Timahoe, Co. Laois, welcomed their little girl Hannah during the pandemic, but she was just two years old when the horrific water accident claimed her life. Ta.
Now parents are sharing their family's story to encourage other families to talk about organ donation. “Hannah was a very friendly and happy child,” Marie said in an interview with EVOKE's sister newspaper, the Irish Daily Mail. There was no stress on her, once she was fed she was happy. ”
“She wore boots the whole time and was outside as much as possible,” Marie added. “She had more boots than shoes, and she had red ones and blue ones, and she wore whatever she liked that day.”Hannah was out on the farm with Dennis, and she was giving birth to her calves. I loved feeding them.”
Hannah was just two years old when the water accident occurred. Marie did not want to dwell on the situation, and for a few days there was hope that a miracle might occur and save her, but that hope did not come true. Those days in Dublin's Temple Street Hospital now feel like something Marie has forgotten.
“To be honest, I don't really remember how I felt,” Marie said. “I think it's just disbelief and numbness and just being in over your head. I think it's very hard to explain until you've been through it, and unfortunately, people who have gone through it… There are others.”
In the terrifying moment when they were told their child wouldn't live long and the miracle they had hoped for would not happen, Dennis and Marie made the bravest decision anyone could ever make: to create a miracle for another family. I put it down. .
“Denise's uncle passed away in an accident about six years ago and he was an organ donor, so we stayed away from the situation,” Marie said. “And my cousin was waiting for a transplant. We knew that maybe Hannah might be a good fit, and if it meant saving another little child. Well, that was it for us, because we were willing to do anything for those few days. So why not help other little families like us?”
For someone in the midst of such terrible grief, it can be a difficult decision to ponder, but Marie and Denise remained steadfast in their resolve. “I actually talked to my doctors about it,” she says. “They were probably going to ask us, I don't know, but I brought it up to them to see if she was the right person and thankfully she was. We would have done anything to save Hannah, and if it meant saving another child…and certainly she went on to save three children and a young mother.”
Thanks to their selfless actions, Hannah's organs were successfully transplanted and Marie's little angel gave the gift of life to four other people.
“When you have a really sick kid waiting for a heart or something, I can only imagine how you feel when you get that call. Knowing that you have a little boy with the best heart in the world right now… Yes, it definitely helps,” she said, her voice breaking and tears inevitably flowing.
It's fair to say that Marie and Dennis, who have since welcomed a son called Tom, are individuals, but they are telling their story as part of Organ Donor Awareness Week. It is only through the courage of people like Marie and Dennis that others can survive.
The week is organized by the Irish Kidney Association (IKA) in partnership with the HSE's Organ Donation and Transplantation Ireland (ODTI), who are encouraging the public to use Organ Donor Awareness Week as an opportunity to discuss this sensitive issue with their families. We invite you to use it.
We will continue to ask the families of all potential organ donors to consent to organ collection, even after new legislation introducing altruistic donation and opt-out registries begins. By sharing your wishes when you are healthy, you will help your family act on your behalf if you become a potential organ donor.
At any given time, 600 people are waiting for transplants, many of them children like the three Hannah saved.
Marie received letters through the transplant coordinator from two of the patients who received Hannah's organs. She doesn't know who they are – and Marie thinks this is a good thing – but the fact that they wrote to her has eased her grief.
“The amount of lives that Hannah changed definitely helped us,” Marie said. “No one wants to think that their child will end up in that situation, but unfortunately for some children it does happen. Why not save another young child, whose family may someday be looking for organs?”
People who want to share their wishes with loved ones and support organ donation can carry an organ donor card, allow code 115 to be included on their driver's license, or use the “Digital Organ Donation” We recommend that you remind yourself of your decision by using the Smartphone “card” app. You can request an organ donor card by visiting ika.ie or by calling 01 620 5306.
