transplant week 2011

Ian Richardson and Mya

How do you prepare for the worst moment in your life?

One moment, our family was complete, happy, and full of nostalgia, travelling home from a family wedding, the future offered boundless opportunities. My wife had given birth to our second daughter just 11 weeks earlier, together with our 6 year old Mya we had everything. 

Then. Two simple words: "EEE Ian" 

Those were the words shouted to me by my wife, three seconds later, nothing would ever be the same.

On the 8th August 2010, at just before 9.30pm, our car was hit head on by a motorist heading the wrong way down the motorway. My wife died instantly at the scene, our baby daughter escaped unscathed, however, my eldest daughter was left fighting for her life. Sixteen hours later, she died in my arms.

 In three short seconds everything was gone...but I was lucky!

Joanne, my wife and I had talked openly about “what would happen if”, never about the girls, but about ourselves. We never thought about something happening to the girls. Joanne and I agreed that we’d want to donate our organs. So, when I was asked by the team at Newcastle, I had no hesitation in agreeing to donate Mya’s organs, I knew Joanne would have done the same. 

Anyone who knew Mya, would tell you she would do anything to help anyone, the perfect child, polite, charming, funny, energetic. Her life might have been stolen, but she could live on in others, as could Joanne.

So, how do you prepare? In honesty, you can’t, but you can talk openly with your loved ones and let them know how you feel, what you would want. One thing’s for certain in life, we are all going to die, I pray no one has to go through what my family and I have but, there’s always a chance.

For me, I knew what my wife and daughter would have wanted, I had no hesitation, I did what was right.

Since the accident, I have told the story so many times, each time, I pose a simple question: What if it was your child lying there, in need of a transplant, waiting for a donor, dying in front of your eyes… wouldn’t you hope that someone out there had spoken to their families and registered to donate their organs?  

Because of Mya’s story, over 1000 joined the organ donation register, but more importantly, four families got to spend Christmas 2010 together. 

Visit www.joandmya.co.uk for more information about the Jo & Mya Memorial Fund, a charity to help children who have been directly impacted by the loss of an immediate family member or those who have family members directly affected by organ donation.