A Fife organ donor has been posthumously honoured for giving someone a second chance at life.
Emma King, who passed away in May 2014 at the age of 45, donated her liver after losing her life to complications of type one diabetes.
Her mother, Valerie Law, 74, accepted the Order of St John award on her behalf. Run in conjunction with NHS Blood and Transplant, the award is presented to the families and loved ones of those who saved and improved people’s lives through organ donation.
Mrs Law, of Kinglassie, described the heartbreaking moment she and her two sons were told Emma would not make it. “We drove down at the crack of dawn and Emma was still on the machine. They said there was no hope. She was brain dead.”
But she said knowing Emma’s liver had given someone else a second chance at life brought them a degree of comfort.
“We agreed that it was what Emma would want. It made us feel better. I would have liked to have thought some part of her was still alive.”
Emma died as a result of kidney failure in the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. She had been living in North Yorkshire after spending three and a half years teaching in Budapest.
When her health started to deteriorate, she left teaching for a job helping people with Alzheimer’s.
In her memory, Mrs Law had a rowan tree planted at Loch Leven. Mrs Law is herself a former primary school teacher and Emma would accompany her when she took pupils to the RSPB reserve.
A total of 13 people who gave the ultimate gift of life through organ donation were honoured posthumously at a private ceremony in York. The Lord Lieutenant for North Yorkshire, Barry Dodd, presented the awards.
Between April 2014 and March 2015, the number of deceased organ donors in the UK dropped for the first time in 11 years. But the 1,282 people in the UK who donated their organs after death saved or transformed thousands of lives.
NHS Blood and Transplant is calling for others to be inspired by this selfless act and has urged everyone in the UK to discuss organ donation with their families and share their decision about what they would do if called on to donate.
David James from the Order of St John said: “With around three people dying every day due to the shortage of organs, these donors and their families have carried out an inspirational act to help others to live. We hope the example they have set will encourage many more to follow in their footsteps and agree to become an organ donor.”
Sally Johnson, director of organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “These families deserve this honour and recognition to mark their loved ones’ life-saving gifts.”