Plea for organ donors as dad waits on list

A Wigan family is renewing its appeal for people to become organ donors in line with an annual awareness week.
Baby GeorgeBaby George
Baby George

Louise Sedgwick, 24, is hoping that organ donation week, which started last Monday, will have encouraged people to step forward as donors so that they do not end up in the same position as her partner Dave Hughes, 32, who has been on the donor list for months.

Dave was born with a congenital heart defect, and five years ago was only given five years to live.

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The family is “remaining positive” despite a number of setbacks, including one operation which was cancelled at the last minute due to the heart being faulty.

“He has to have the same age heart from someone of the same sex,” she explained. “It has to be perfect so the doctors said we will probably be waiting longer.

“He is now having his bloods done regularly and he is having swabs to keep the wire coming out of his chest from getting infected.”

Dave and Louise, parents of baby George, who turns one on Tuesday, have had to spend days sometimes weeks apart while he travels 150 miles to a hospital in Newcastle for treatment to try and keep him as healthy as possible.

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The family, who have already registered George as an organ donor, is urging people to do the same thing as many are “unaware” of the process until they are in the same position.

“You don’t think about it until it happens to you”, said Louise. “Until you are in the situation yourself you don’t think about it from that point of view.”

The pair are now doing everything they can to keep him healthy while he waits.