On the first day of Christmas…

12 xmas

So, twelve days of Christmas, here we come….

Not with the same enthusiasm as other times, but this isn’t the Christmas that many of us expected or wanted, for lots of reasons. And that’s that, no more references to that other C-word; it’s doing, it’s done, too much damage already. These short blogs will be about other conversations. Yes, about organ donations, naturally, but also a lot more besides, or beyond.

Lucia would have managed a series of blogs for these twelve days in her own seemingly effortless style, no fuss no palaver (that’s palaver, there was often pavlova about this time of the year). We needed some support from others who know about transplants so we invited some filling in of the spaces at the end of this sentence –  “When I received my transplant my donor gave to me…”

And here’s a start, from Kathryn, a swimmer in the Northern Ireland Transplant team.

“When I received my transplant my donor gave to me…a whole new family.   I refer to my transplant friends as my transplant family – people who share a common bond, have been through similar experiences, have the same outlook in life and most importantly, have the same appreciation for our donor families and for their loved one’s amazing gift of life.”

On the first day of Christmas – a whole family of families…  That’s worth a conversation.