Luton wife and mum urges people to talk about child organ donation
Roselelia Eaves and her family have been touched by organ donation more than most
A wife and mother from Luton is calling on people to talk more openly about child organ donation.
Organ Donation Week
Her message comes as the NHS marks Organ Donation Week in a bid to build awareness of the difference organ donation can make.
Roselelia Eaves and her family have been touched by organ donation more than most, as both her husband and son's lives were saved by organ donors.
In 2019, after 13 months of waiting, Ms Eaves' husband Richard received a heart transplant after it was discovered that the right side of his heart was not pumping properly.
That same year, the couple's son Ethan was born and while everything seemed alright at first, at five months old Ethan was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that he was suffering from heart failure.
After months of agony, a suitable organ donor was eventually found for Ethan, who is know home and getting ready to start nursery.
"I would have lost a child and been a widow"
Ms Eaves credits the organ donors and their families for saving hers, having said: "without that person who said 'I want to be an organ donor', I literally would have lost a child and been a widow.
"I would not have my husband by my side, I would not have my son."
Since her family's battle, Ms Eaves has also been campaigning for people to start talking more about child organ donation.
"It's a really hard subject and we understand that"
She said: "No one ever talks about children donation. It's a really hard subject and we understand that and we get that.
But studies have shown later on that parents wish they had those discussion before, in hindsight, than at the time when they've just lost their loved one, because the emotion is so raw."
She continued: "There are many many children that were on the list when Ethan was and still are, and some haven't made it. For us, we feel like we were one of the very lucky ones, that Ethan got that second chance.
"We truly hope this doesn't ever happen to you but if it did, you would go on and help and save so many people."