BBC News, South-East
Getty imagesA mother of Surrey who was not on the register of organ donors until her two young girls needed cardiac transplants said that she had realized “how important it was” after her children spent time on the waiting list.
According to new figures from NHS Blood and Transplant, 8,096 patients were on the waiting list of transplantation on March 31 – the greatest number ever recorded.
This number of records includes 95 people in Surrey and does not include 3,883 patients in suspension due to not being unfit for transplantation or temporarily unavailable.
Jo Perry, from Leatherhead, said that she owed her daughters to organize organs and has been to more people to be in the register.
His daughters Lucie and Isobel, now aged 16 and 10, each had a heart transplant after being diagnosed with a dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition where the left ventricle becomes enlarged and weakened.
Ms. Perry told Radio Surrey that Lucie had been diagnosed with unlikely “at the age of two, before Isobel was confirmed to have the same condition during a check seven years later.
By referring to the diagnosis of Lucie, she said: “I went from the general practitioner in the morning to that in the evening … it’s a lot to make your mind.”
Representing the process with Isobel was “horrible”, admitted Ms. Perry.
Lucie obtained a new heart in the eight days following her list, while Isobel – who had complications before joining the list – waited until 10 days.
Ms. Perry said the disease meant that the two children had widened their hearts.
“It meant that there was more space for a larger heart … so that they could have the heart of an older child,” she said.
In the hospital with Isobel, she said that the austere reality had become obvious.
“There were four children waiting for hearts, and two of them did not succeed,” she said.
Admitting that she was not previously in the donor register, Ms. Perry said that these experiences had moved her point of view.
“I think you cannot be willing to take something without being willing to restore,” she said.
“My daughters would both be dead if they hadn’t had this heart … We were very lucky, twice.”
Opt-in system
Dave Webb of Walton-on-Thames is now living a full life, but it was a completely different story only six years ago when the 52-year-old was awaiting a new heart.
Mr. Webb was born with a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the muscular tissue of the heart thicken without an obvious cause.
“In my adult years – in my twenties – I started to realize that I had symptoms and that I could not work as well as, let’s say, other people,” he told BBC Radio Surrey.
The 52-year-old deterioration condition meant that he reached a crossroads in mid-40 years.
“If I did not receive a transplant, I would not last for many years,” he said.
Mr. Webb was “very, very lucky” to be on the waiting list only for four weeks, and after receiving a new heart at the age of 46, said that he felt completely rejuvenated.
In addition to returning to sport, he spends time meeting other transplanted patients and has really enjoyed “celebrating the gift of life that has been given to us”.
By referring to the opt-in system that has been in place since 2020, Mr. Webb says that the most important thing is that people “make their family ‘wish” known.
“They have the ultimate key, because when something happens, they have to be referenced and they must agree,” he added.
