Four strangers we are ever indebted to – says dad of Late campaign hero this Organ Donation Week

Less than half of us in Northern Ireland have signed up to be organ donors.

But of that 47%, only 1 in 2 end up actually donating.

Why? Because as it stands, your family get the final say. That’s why this Organ Donation Week, we are being asked not only to sign the register, but also to share that intention with our loved ones

Lucia Quinney Mee knew that. She campaigned tirelessly for people to ‘Live Loudly, Donate Proudly’.

The young Ballycastle woman died this May aged 20, after her 4th liver transplant, having received her first when she was only 8 years old.

You may think her passing means the transplants didn’t work, but her mum Rachel, dad David and sister Alice told Downtown Cool FM that they absolutely did work, because it meant her life was saved and extended by what they say were 12 wonderful years since that first surgery.

Her dad David said: “People would ask her sometimes, ‘oh, did the first one or the second one or the third one not work?’ And Lucia always said ‘yes, they worked, because here I am! They didn’t all last as long as we would have liked, but they saved my life – every time’.”

Her family said not only did the gift of those organs mean that she lived, but that she was able to live a full life.

“She wanted people to know that she wasn’t just recovering from an operation – she was out leaping and dancing about and going to discos and walking along the beach!

"She wanted them to know that this was the gift of organ donation. It gave people not just life, but a good chance at a full life.”

Indeed, she loved gymnastics, dancing, public speaking, she received an honour from Her Majesty the Queen for her campaign work, and swam competitively at the transplant games, sweeping up a few medals.

David explained that living her best life was a way of thanking the generosity of the donors. “Somewhere, out there, are 4 families that we are greatly indebted to. But Lucia said when she was tired in the pool and she didn’t know if she could go on any further, she would say no, I must go on, because so much of competing and winning medals was her way of saying ‘thank you’ to the donors.”

If you want to be a donor to help the 115 people who are currently on NI's transplant waiting list, there’s another hurdle that can be a little harder than simply signing the register.

Soon, the system of opting-in will change to ‘soft-opt-out’ which means you’re presumed a donor unless you’ve stated the contrary. A consultation around that will be getting underway this Autumn.

However, in the meantime, if you do wish to sign the register, you also need to let your family know that’s what you want - so that they won’t refuse your organs at a time when something tragic has happened and they are in grief or shock.

Lucia’s mum Rachel said it can be hard to talk about dying, but it allows others like her daughter, the gift of life: “Young people especially don’t normally have reticence to talk about death, but if we can talk about it naturally it can help everyone to understand that this is a good thing to do and what can be achieved and given to so many others.”

David suggested how that conversation might go: “I am an organ donor, this is why I think it’s important,” he said, “so that should the occasion arise where I can be an organ donor then the family know, and they can say with some pride – YES.”

You can register to become a donor here: https://www.organdonationni.info/register/online