Sarah's Story: "It makes us proud she's living on, in a way"

Sarah Bruce from Perth died suddenly in January, but she's gone on to help three people through organ donation.

Sarah Bruce
Author: Chloe ShawPublished 24th Sep 2021

Sarah Bruce, from Perth, was 38-years-old when she died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage in January this year. But through organ donation, Sarah's living on through three other people, say her family.

Today (24th September) would have been Sarah's 39th birthday, and Sarah's partner John McGuire told us about the day she suddenly fell ill eight months ago.

"It just happened very, very quickly, it's still quite raw." he said.

John initially thought Sarah had choked while eating a packet of crisps,

Sarah was rushed to Ninewells where doctor's tried to save Sarah's live, and attempted to drain the fluid from her brain following a CT scan.

Sarah's mum described the moment she received a phone call from John "I just kept thinking she'll be back home this evening with a sore throat....you know, my brain just couldn't process the fact that John had to do CPR."

"I just kept thinking, she's young, she'll fight, she'll be okay."

Susan and John as well as other family members were able to visit Sarah at Ninewells, due to Sarah's serious condition. Her mum Susan said seeing her there was when it hit home.

"That's when it hit, this is actually happening. She's not coming back from this. But when you're going through something like that, the last thing on your mind is organ donation, because you don't think " Susan said.

Three people received an organ from Sarah

When a nurse approached them about organ donation, John and Susan were supportive of the idea, believing Sarah would want her organs to go to other people. Then medical staff approached the family and revealed that Sarah had actually registered as an organ donor three times.

For Susan, that made the decision clear: "Well, there's no more to be said. That's exactly what she would have wanted. To register three times, well, that was that."

A few weeks later, the family received a letter detailing the journey of Sarah's organs. One kidney had been given to a woman in her 20's and a man who had been seriously ill had received Sarah's liver.

Her family were told that a 5-year-old girl was the recipient of one of one of Sarah's kidneys, the same age as her own daughter, Eilidh.

"We keep telling the kids as well, I was saying to Eilidh that there's a little girl, same age as her. We're so proud of Sarah" said John.

"She just had the biggest heart"

Susan and John now hope to one day meet the people whose lives Sarah helped change. Susan told us, "We're hoping in times to come that we get a letter saying things are going well and thanking Sarah for donating her kidneys and her liver,"

"But to actually meet them would be something else! I would probably put them in my pocket and take them home with me laughs"

Tell your nearest and dearest what you would want

Sarah's family are now urging people to have the difficult conversation with their loved ones about organ donation, regardless of the change in the law, which came into force on the 26th March 2021.

In Scotland, the laws around organ donation were changed to an 'opt-out' system. This means if you die in circumstances where you could become a donor and have not recorded a donation decision, it may be assumed you are willing to donate your organs and tissue for transplantation.

But Susan told us that important conversations around organ donation, and the wishes of a close friend or family member, still need to be talked about. "At the end of the day, I think families have to speak about it, because even though Sarah had registered three times, if either one of us had said no, then they wouldn't have done it. " she said.

Susan told us the change in law may make things complicated. "Because you had to register before now, then we knew that's what Sarah would have wanted. But if it had been now and nothing had been in writing or anything, we would have questioned, well, is it what they wanted, or not? I think it makes it more difficult. "

"If you're adamant that you want your organs to be donated then you have to tell the people that are nearest to you, your wishes"

You can find out more about Scotland's organ and tissue donation laws here.

READ MORE: Organ and tissue donation week: Angie's story

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