A mother-of -two said she is 'so thankful' to her donor for giving her a chance to see her children grow up.
Natalie Kerr, from Bolton, who now lives in Adlington had a lung transplant 12 years ago after being diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension after the birth of her second child, Isabelle.
She spoke about the difference the gift of organ donation has made to her life during Organ Donation Week — and in tribute to organ donors and to raise awareness of being on the register.
Rivington Pike will be lit up pink on Sunday, thanks to Natalie's encouragement
NHS Blood and Transplant is celebrating the fact that the NHS Organ Donor Register has been helping to save lives for 30 years through the gift of organ donation – with more than 2.6 million people in the North West declaring their willingness to donate their organs after death.
Since the creation of the NHS Organ Donor Register in 1994, more than 100,000 people in the UK had their lives saved by an organ transplant, including almost 11,000 people in the North West.
The former Royal Bolton Hospital nurse Natalie, 42, has seen Isabelle and her son Brandon grow up and has been busy making memories.
She said: “When I was diagnosed and given three years to live my biggest fear was that I wasn’t going to be here to see them grow up. I absolutely love being their mum and the thought of being taken away from them broke my heart. I wanted to see everything, all the milestones.
“Twelve years on from my transplant I am so very thankful to my donor, who was on the register, for keeping me here with my children. It breaks my heart to think of everything I would have missed. Thanks to my donor my children still have their mum and we have made so many happy memories.
“In the last twelve years, thanks to my donor, I’ve probably lived more than most people live in a lifetime, including holidays, competing in the transplant games and seeing my children through school treasuring every single moment. Isabelle has just finished her GCSEs and I’ve recently proudly seen her go to Prom. Brandon is 21 and at university and recently passed his driving test. I pinch myself that I’m here to witness all this, it is beyond a miracle.
“I feel so blessed to have had all this extra time, my donor gave me a future I didn’t think I had. Happy 30th birthday to the Organ Donor register. You saved my life and thousands of others, it’s incredible.
“I urge everyone to think about organ donation and join the register. The 30th anniversary is a great time to join as there will be so much information available and so many stories being shared. How amazing for your family and friends to know that’s you’ve saved someone else’s life when you’ve gone, organ donors really are heroes.”
Natalie said: "When I first started to feel poorly I was working as a Staff Nurse on F5 and I noticed I started to get short of breath, at first it was subtle if I had been walking too fast.
“Then it started to get worse and I started collapsing because I just couldn’t get my breath.
“In 2007 I was pregnant with my little girl and at this point my breath got even worse. My lips would be blue, I couldn’t walk up the starts to the ward. I went into labour at 33 weeks in the hospital’s maternity ward and because my oxygen levels were so low I was sent for heart scans during labour.
Natalie’s scans revealed that she had pulmonary hypertension, a rare lung disease where blood vessels become more narrow over time, and it was at this point she was told she only had a few years to live.
Her daughter, Isabelle, was born naturally and after three weeks, they were both discharged. Natalie spent years receiving specialist treatments to help manage the condition, before being referred for a lung transplant assessment in 2011.
When I received my diagnosis I was heartbroken and left with an awful sinking feeling that I was going to die and leave everyone, including my young children.
“I was told the only cure was to take my lungs out and put another pair in. This came with its own medications, but I just wanted to live and have a better quality of life.
Natalie was place on the transplant list in October 2011 as a priority and by 16 February 2012, she received the call she had been desperately waiting for.
“When the phone rang I got goose bumps, my heart was beating out of my chest. I couldn’t believe they were ringing. I just heard the lady say that they had lungs and needed to get me to hospital."
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Within hours of receiving the phone call, Natalie was in theatre in the early hours of the 17 February.
Natalie said :"I can’t put into words what the transplant means, even 12 years later. It’s so amazing to still be here with my children, who are now aged 22 and 16. I’ve watched them grow up, which is what I wanted more than anything in the world.
Natalie regularly gives talks on the power of organ donation to help raise awareness among doctors, nurses and the public.
She said: "If you want to donate it just takes seconds to register your wishes. I would say just think how amazing it could be to save someone’s life when you have gone. You could keep a family together for longer, just like mine".
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