Woman raising awareness of organ donation in honour of her late mum
Aisha Chaudhry's mum died after waiting 10 years for a kidney transplant
A woman from Berkshire is raising awareness of the importance of organ donation, especially in ethnic minority groups, in honour of her mum.
Aisha Chaudhry's mum died in 2001 after waiting over a decade for a kidney transplant.
Her mother Annsa was being treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford during those years, while a matching donor couldn’t be found.
Ms Chaudhry from Reading has recently released a book in June called ‘Family Matters’ which is about her family’s experience to highlight the importance of organ donation.
She said: “It was really, really harrowing because as a family of four children we fully expected our mum of the age of 39 to live a normal life, and knowing now that life could have been different for all of us if she had gone on to survive.
“It may not have been perfect, because not all transplants give you a perfect future in your life, but to have had the opportunity would have been great.”
She adds, “As a family of young children, we saw a lot of things that I think children shouldn't have to see.”
Ms Chaudhry says it was “really hard” for her mum to try and find a donor match especially as she is from a South-Asian background.
She said: “The pool of availability of people from our background was so low, which means the number of people who registered to be organ donors from the South Asian background in the UK was just ridiculously low.
“It's culturally not a topic that people talk about religiously and it's not a topic that people talk about within the sort of minority communities.
“So, we spent 10 years really hoping that she was going to get her kidney and then she didn't.”
Aisha hopes that the book will help encourage more people, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds to sign up to the organ donor register.
Ms Chaudhry said: “For me, it feels like I know what my purpose is now. It's in honour of my mum. It's like leaving a legacy.
“I don't have anything to gain by this by doing it because I can't bring her back, but I do know by people reading it that they are talking and that's all I want.”