Anthony Donkin - Donor
Organ Donor
As told by Anthony’s parents
Our story begins at 3.30 pm on Tuesday 10th of December 2002. A knock on the door is answered and there are two police officers there asking if we are the parents of Anthony Donkin. They informed us that he had been injured in an accident on his way to work on his pedal cycle when he was struck from behind by a car. He was in Newcastle General Hospital in Intensive Care and we were rushed through to the hospital by the police.
When we arrived they told us he was undergoing an operation to relieve the increasing pressure on his brain due to the swelling from the accident. The medical staff explained that he was young and strong and the next few days would be critical to his recovery. Unfortunately the damage to his brain was so great that he would not recover.
The next nine days just blurred into one, as we watched and hoped, looking for some small sign that he was responding to the surgery. But as the time went on we came to realise that he was not going to recover. The rest of the family started to discuss times we had spent together, things we said to each other, things we believed in. It was at this point that the subject of organ donation was brought up. His sisters said that when they were at school there had been a discussion about organ donation and Anthony had said if anything ever happened to him that this is what he would like to do.
the transplant co-ordinator put us at our ease… it can’t be an easy thing to suggest to a family
We all agreed what had to be done. As it was only Anthony’s head that was injured and all his other organs were healthy and undamaged by the accident we approached the doctors and said if Anthony did not recover we as a family would like to carry out Anthony’s wishes to donate his organs. This is when we were introduced to Julie, a transplant co-ordinator at Newcastle. She told us everything we needed to know and was very good at putting us at ease at such a difficult time, for her as well as us. It can’t be an easy thing to suggest to a family.
She also introduced us to a group of people known as Donor Families North, a group of people who had gone through the same thing as ourselves. It was daunting at first but we had to go, we needed answers to questions that only people who had gone down this road before us could answer. It was good to see how people were managing their lives again after their loss and it gave us hope when we thought there was no way forward for us.
It is three years now since Anthony left us. He died six days before Christmas and only ten days before his 21st birthday. The most positive outcome is the fact that so many people have been helped by his organ donation. We get updates from the transplant team from time to time and it really helps us when we hear how people are doing. The latest was a young child who had received one of Anthony’s heart valves and is doing well.
Anthony was a much loved and integral part of our family and there is never a day that goes by when we don’t think of him. His name is still mentioned and he goes everywhere with us as he always did. He is our hero and his life goes on in all the people he has helped by his organ donation.