‘As our hearts died, our son gave life to five people’

THE mother of a teenage boy who died after he was hit by a motorbike has told of how the death of her son saved the lives of five people after she agreed to his organs being donated.

Lily Turley and husband Davy were devastated when their son Daryl, 13, suffered critical head injuries after being hit as he crossed a road near his home in January 2009.

Mrs Turley spoke out yesterday as she visited her son’s school, Holy Cross High School in Hamilton, with Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon to see his friends and teachers use a teaching pack on organ donation.

The resource pack, which was launched in 2003 and updated in 2010, has proved so successful it is being re-launched and sent to every secondary school in Scotland from this week.

Mrs Turley, from Hamilton, Lanarkshire, recalled the moment that staff at Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital asked if she would consent to her son’s organs being donated after they were told doctors could not save him.

“Davy and I turned to each other and instantly agreed that we had to,” she said. “After all, reversing the roles, if someone had come to us at that moment and said there was an organ that could save Daryl, we would have jumped at the chance.

“As our hearts died, Daryl’s gave life.”

Mrs Turley said choosing to donate her son’s heart, liver, kidney and bowel was a “difficult decision made easier by the excellent transplant liaison team”.

In a film that is part of the education pack, Mrs Turley explains why she agreed for Daryl’s organs to be donated.

She says: “Anything I can do to help raise awareness I do. It is important people understand organ donation and can make their own, informed decisions about it, even from an early age. We need to speak about it more.

“It’s the most devastating thing that could ever happen to a mum, but when you are gone, you are gone; don’t waste those organs when they could help others. I’ve never, ever, had second thoughts or regretted it.”

To coincide with the pack’s re-launch, specialist organ donation nurses will visit 100 schools to answer questions from pupils.

Ms Sturgeon said: “No-one wants to think about their own death but it is important that young people throughout Scotland learn about the realities of organ donation.

“From the age of 12, they can decide for themselves whether they want to donate their organs in the event of their death. By raising awareness of donation and transplantation, dispelling the myths behind the medical science and discussing the ethics, we can ensure they are able to make an informed choice.”

Sheila McLean, emeritus professor of law and ethics in medicine at Glasgow University, said that giving young people the opportunity to make such a decision was beneficial to their social development.

Prof McLean said: “Allowing young people to make socially responsible decisions of that sort is of value to them.”

She said the children were not being asked to contemplate being dead, rather whether they wanted to help other people once they are not around.

She also pointed out that the decision could be reversed and that the pupils would be able to change their minds on the issue as they matured further.