Mother denied daughter's kidney dies

[okarol]

Mother denied daughter's kidney dies
A mother who was denied a kidney transplant despite being a perfect match with her dying daughter has died of blood poisoning.
 

Published: 9:37AM BST 23 Aug 2009

Rachel Leake's daughter Laura Ashworth, 21, had verbally promised to be her donor to save her mum's life.

But after she succumbed to brain damage following an asthma attack last year, a transplant co-ordinator told the family that they would be going against Laura's wishes and giving her kidneys to strangers instead as there was no official record of the deal.

This was despite the fact that Miss Leake, 41, was diabetic and she could also have been given Laura's pancreas.

Her kidneys were given to men in Sheffield and London and her liver transplanted into a 15-year-old girl.

Miss Leake's sister Carol Saunders, 52, said: "She had no fight left in her when she lost her daughter. We are all absolutely devastated.

"Rachel was a lovely, lovely person, a beautiful woman and a friend to so many people."

When she was denied her daughter's organs in April 2008, Rachel, of Bradford, West Yorks., revealed her fury over the decision.

She said: "I am angry, really angry. I am not finding comfort at the moment in the fact that she helped three people.

"All I wanted to do was carry out her wishes. She would have been so upset that she was able to help other people and not her own mum.

"Everyone has gone mad and everyone is disgusted. The thing that hurts the most is how Laura would feel. She would be devastated that she was not able to help me.

After her daughter's death Miss Leake became the carer for her granddaughter Macie despite being ill herself and having dialysis three times a week. She had suffered from kidney failure after developing diabetes while pregnant.

She was taken to hospital three months ago suffering from an infection in her feet due to poor blood circulation but contracted blood poisoning.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/6076752/Mother-denied-daughters-kidney-dies.html

[Rerun]

That is horrible.  This does not look good for the Transplant team.  In the US I think you could be a direct donor.  Isn't that how Natalie Cole got her kidney?  Also, we would be given more points if someone donated in our name. 

I'm a little more passive aggressive or just aggressive.... I would not have allowed donation if I couldn't have my daughters kidney. 

[Sunny]

This is a wierd story. I guess I don't really understand how it all works in England as opposed  to the U.S.A.
I have had many people, including my own son and my sister, tell me if anything should happen to them they want me to have their kidneys. But it's not on their organ donation card, just verbal.