James was just 27 years old when he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed while tending to the wildlife pond he had built in the garden of the family home in Strood. Due to the heroic efforts of his brother’s girlfriend and the emergency services, he was placed on life support at Medway Maritime Hospital. Five days later, James was sadly pronounced dead.
Following his death, James’s kidneys were donated to two patients and his liver was split between an adult and a baby. Many other people also benefitted from the donation of his eyes, skin, and bones.
Angela said: “We were absolutely heartbroken to lose James but knowing that while we were saying goodbye to him, others were receiving life-changing phone calls helped bring us comfort. We even received a letter from one of the recipients, which meant the world to us.
“Coming together at the anniversary event, was a moving reminder that James’ legacy, as well as other donors, lives on through the people whose lives were transformed by donation.”
Dr Gill Fargher, Chair of the hospital’s Organ and Tissue Donation Committee, has been an advocate and champion for organ donation since the sudden and tragic death of her beloved husband Tristan, known as Tris, in January 2015.
She said: “I share an understanding of the painful, difficult and unwanted journey that many of the families who attended the event are navigating, and I am honoured that my late husband Tristan’s name also appears on one of the ‘Hero boards’.
“Organ and tissue donation and transplantation are miracles of modern medicine, however an immense debt of gratitude is owed to donors and their families without whom transplants would simply not be possible
“It is thanks to them that a number of desperately ill people in need of a lifesaving organ transplant have been able to realise that wish while tissue donors have made life transforming treatments possible such as the return of sight.”
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