Former Nurse Stresses Importance of Talking About Organ Donation

A former NHS Forth Valley emergency nurse, who carried out her husband’s wishes to donate his organs, will be supporting a series of local events to celebrate Organ Donation Week (September 3^rd to 9^th 2018).

Jane Hall  will be at Forth Valley Royal Hospital and Falkirk and Stirling Community Hospitals to invite people to  have a special heart cup cake and hear how talking about organ donation with her husband prior to him taking ill, helped make the decision to donate easy.

Jane was working when she received a call to say her husband George was unwell. She travelled to the emergency department at Forth Valley Royal Hospital to discover he had collapsed at Ineos in Grangemouth with a catastrophic brain haemorrhage and had been in cardiac arrest. Colleagues had given him CPR and kept him alive but although an Edinburgh hospital offered surgery, the chance of survival was only 10%.

Jane, who worked in both Stirling Royal Infirmary and Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary, said: “Knowing my husband’s wishes and my son’s wishes, my son said no to surgery. We were left with a short time to come to terms with what had happened and I reminded my son of our discussion many years before when we agreed at that point which route we wanted to go down. It was the easiest decision I made the whole day because of what we had discussed fully as a family.

George’s kidney’s went south and his heart was given to a woman in Newcastle. I am not sure where his liver and pancreas went but I would say to anyone facing this decision to do it in a heartbeat. I’m very proud of my husband for doing this. To know people are about because he took this choice. Once you’re dead your dead, and your organs can help someone live.”

An achievement award for a third year apprentice has since been set up at Ineos to remember 56 year old George, who had worked at the company for 40 years.

Jane will be helping out at a promotional event at Falkirk Community Hospital on Tuesday September 4^th 2018 between 2.00pm and 4.00pm in the Outpatient/Eye Clinic area. She will support at organ donation event in the atrium at Forth Valley Royal Hospital between 2.00pm and 4.00pm on Wednesday 5^th September and will be in Stirling Community Hospital’s outpatient department on Thursday 6^th September, again between 2.00pm and 4.00pm.

To join the NHS Organ Donor Register today visit: weneedeverybody.org