Health News: Royal Free book gives transplant patients the chance to write to families of organ donors

Published: 11 November, 2010
by TOM FOOT

TRANSPLANT patients at the Royal Free have made contact with families of their donors in a series of heartfelt letters thanking them for the gift of life.

Because of anonymity rules, transplant patients and the relatives of donors are rarely able to meet. But consultants at the Royal Free wanted to break down the barrier and acted as go-betweens for correspondence.

Now the letters have been collated into a bitter-sweet book featuring 50 stories from the hospital’s patients.

Thank You For Life was launched by the under secretary of state for health Anne Milton MP at the Royal College of Physicians on Tuesday.

Susan Lee Clarke, 50, from Hampstead, wrote a letter to her donor following her liver transplant five years ago.

She said: “I’ve had liver disease since the age of 11. I was able to live a normal life with drug treatment until my early 30s, when I became increasingly ill.

“I was lucky enough to be able to have my son, Harry, although it was a difficult pregnancy. Then when Harry was four I took him to the local play area to teach him to ride a bike.

“Later that week my health took a turn for the worse and I deteriorated to the extent I was housebound. It was very upsetting that I could not play with my little boy like any other healthy mum.

“I went through the process of being considered for a liver transplant because I was so ill, and in March 2005 I was lucky enough to have a transplant at the Royal  Free Hospital.

“Since then, I feel so much better and have been able to play with my son, help him learn to ride his bike and put a lot of energy into celebrating his 11th birthday.

“I’m alive, I can look after and play with my son and I feel so grateful to my donor and their family. I hope this book will appear in doctors’ surgeries, libraries and schools to get people discussing and considering the gift of organ donation.”

Professor Andrew Burroughs, a consultant physician and hepatologist at Hampstead trust, and senior liver co-ordinator Linda Selves, came up with the idea for the book three years ago.

Professor Burroughs said: “I wanted to promote organ donation and recognise the contribution of donors to saving lives. I thought a book of letters from very grateful patients would be a powerful way of publicly  thanking and remembering donors and their families.

“I hope the book will be used in various settings, such as in schools, churches and mosques as an educational aid about organ donation.”

The Royal Free is one of the country’s leading hospitals for its liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantation services.