Hospital shares stories of gift-of-life donors

Phillippa Foster's widower Adrian and their two daughters hope other families will discuss organ donation

Bereaved families have shared stories about their loved ones who gave "the gift of life" by donating their organs.

Four people received organs from Adrian Foster's wife Phillipa after she died suddenly from a brain aneurysm in October 2022

His tribute to the 56-year-old retired head teacher and mother-of-two has been mounted on a wall at University Hospital in Coventry as part of a wider display.

"Phillippa enjoyed her life, her message would be 'get on with yours'," Mr Foster said.

He added a thank-you letter from one of the kidney recipients she helped was "emotional to read".

"We know Phillippa would have been keen to help other people and we know it is life-changing for those who receive the organs," he said.

The storyboards at the hospital are intended to raise awareness and provoke conversations about organ donation.

"It’s the hardest time to discuss something like organ donation, so the more people are aware of it the easier it is to have those conversations," Mr Foster said.

'Baby's life saved'

Naomi Rees-Issitt has also paid tribute in another storyboard to her 18-year-old son Jamie who died in 2022 after a cardiac arrest.

Jamie, from Wolvey, in Warwickshire, had signed up to the NHS Organ Donation Register two years earlier.

On the day he died, his organs were donated to five people, including a baby girl who had a life-saving liver transplant.

Naomi Rees-Issitt, pictured second left, said she takes joy from the knowledge her son's organ donation saved a baby girl

"I hope that people, particularly other teenagers, will read Jamie’s story and lives can be saved as a result," Ms Rees-Issitt said.

She added the family felt honoured to be able to grant the teenager's final wish.

"We get a lot of joy, especially at Christmas, in knowing that a little girl's parents are enjoying that special time with their child," she said.

Since Jamie's death she has set up the OurJay Foundation, which fundraises to install defibrillators across Rugby and beyond.

Dr Robert Green, the hospital's Clinical Lead for Organ Donation, said: "Donating an organ can mean the precious gift of life to a patient. It is the greatest and kindest gesture we can ever make."

He encouraged people to have conversations with loved ones to make wishes clear.