Special gift sees tragic Beth live on

Yet just hours later their 21-year-old daughter lay critically ill in hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage – and they were faced with the possibility of having to arrange donation of her organs should the worst happen.

Hardworking and creative, Beth was studying drama at Northampton University and dreamed of one day owning her own theatre company.

The former Great Barr High School pupil was just two weeks into her final year when she came home to Skip Lane, Walsall, to spend the weekend with her family.

She arrived on September 27, 2013, saying she felt tired and had a headache. Her parents Jim and Mandy Walker remember how the events of the following 48 hours changed their lives forever.

Mrs Walker, aged 54, said: "Beth came home from university on the Friday and said she was tired and went to lie down.

"By Saturday she was still feeling tired. She walked out of our front living room at 1pm and lay down in the study and went to sleep while I watched TV with her. At 3pm that afternoon I checked on her and she was unresponsive."

Beth's older sister Lydia, a nurse at Birmingham Children's Hospital, tried to wake her, but got no response and on seeing that her pupils were dilated called 999.

Beth was taken to Walsall Manor Hospital by 4pm when consultants told the famil that they didn't think she would make it through the night as she had suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. She died two days later on September 30.

Although devastated by the loss of their beloved daughter, the couple said organ donation was one thing they did not have to discuss as Beth had already made her feelings clear.

Mr Walker, 55, said: "The prior discussions we had as a family and knowing Beth's wishes gave us the strength and courage to agree for the operation for organ donation to go ahead.

"Without it, making such a decision on her behalf would have been impossible at such a totally devastating time."

The family had discussed organ donation after Lydia had attended an operation during her training, where a man's liver had been transplanted into a young child.

"We decided then as a family that organ donation was something we needed to support and the only way we knew about Beth's wishes is because we spoke about it," said Mr Walker.

In the past 12 months Mr and Mrs Walker have received updates from the organ transplant co-ordinating team regarding four recipients.

"It is very emotional. You first receive a letter telling you a letter has been received and if you would like it to be sent to you. The way it is handled is so professional and wonderful," said Mrs Walker.

"They couldn't use Beth's heart or lungs as a direct transplant, but they were able to store her heart valves for later use. The surgeons did remove her liver, kidneys and pancreas."

A lady in her 50s received one of Beth's kidneys and her liver and wrote to her parents to explain the impact of the life-saving donation.

In the letter she wrote: "Words cannot express gratitude. Thank you seems inadequate for such a

huge gift. The transplant has made a huge positive impact on my life. I now have a future.

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for making the wonderful and brave decision to donate. I will cherish my new organs. I am forever in your debt."

A man aged 21 received Beth's other kidney. He had been on dialysis all his life and Beth's kidney was a perfect match.

Mrs Walker said: "Since the operation he has been able to move out and live independently and has started a college course. We also had a letter to say that two toddlers have been the recipient of Beth's heart valves."

Mr Walker said: "All we want to do now in memory of Beth is to encourage people to discuss organ donation because if something unexpected happens, you will be lost and opportunities will be missed."

The family set up the website rememberbeth.co.uk to share their experience and the stories of those who received Beth's organs. Mrs Walker summed up her experience of organ donation and said: "We prayed for a miracle for Beth over that weekend and it didn't happen, but for all those people needing a transplant, their prayers came true and that is a comfort.

"Families raced to the hospital at 5am to receive Beth's organs and that gave us comfort, to see the life-changing impact her choice had given to those people."

Mr Walker added: "The fact that one donor can help eight or nine people is fantastic, but the prayers of their wife, husband and friends were also answered and therefore organ donation really impacts on hundreds of lives."

Beth should have graduated this July and her family were invited to the ceremony where one of her two sisters received her degree on her behalf.

Her mother said: "She worked very hard, she was so creative and she kept us all very well entertained."

To mark the first anniversary of Beth's death her family, friends and school released balloons in her memory. Her mother said: "Beth loved sunflowers and daisies and so yellow balloons were released all over the world by her family, friends and people she had met travelling."

For more information on organ donation, visit www.rememberbeth.co.uk or www.organdonation.nhs.uk