Royce and Keri Young have made an incredibly hard decision to donate their unborn daughter, Eva’s organs. Eva will save many young lives, she’s a little hero!
Royce and Keri Young were faced with heartbreaking news at 19 weeks, their unborn daughter Eva was diagnosed with Anencephaly, which is the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. There are no guarantees as to how long Eva will live for and once diagnosed most parents chose to terminate the pregnancy before full term as life span is very short, most cases being only a few hours.
Keri however has decided not to terminate the pregnancy but instead to carry Eva to full term so that when she is born her life will save many other lives instead. Eva is due in May 2017.
“I thought back to the moment where we found out Eva wasn’t perfect, and how literally 30 seconds after our doctor told us our baby doesn’t have a brain”
Somehow through full body ugly crying, Keri looked up and asked, “If I carry her full term, can we donate her organs?”
I remember our doctor putting her hand on Keri’s shoulder and saying, “Oh honey, that’s so brave of you to say…. Like, how nice of you, but come on.”
“There I was, crestfallen and heartbroken, but I momentarily got lifted out of the moment and just stood in awe of her. I was a spectator to my own life, watching a superhero find her superpowers.”
“In literally the worst moment of her life, finding out her baby was going to die, it took her less than a minute to think of someone else and how her selflessness could help.” – Royce Young
The heartache that will be felt on the day of Eva’s birth won’t go unnoticed, however the miracle of her life and the gift she will give to many other babies is so wonderful!
It is exceptionally rare for newborn baby organs to be donated and most life saving organs generally come from older donors.
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“It Takes Lives To Save Lives.” I couldn’t stop thinking about that all day. There’s another family out there hurting and hoping for a miracle for their baby, knowing full well someone else’s baby will need to die first. Eva can be that miracle.” – Royce Young
A person doesn’t need to be a registered organ donor to donate organs however to ensure your wishes are honoured you can register here.
Organ Donor Foundation South Africa spokesperson Gillian Walker said there was a long list of people waiting for organs, but the rate of transplants in the country was extremely low, with fewer than 600 solid organ and cornea transplants done a year.
“Currently, there are approximately 4 300 people awaiting solid organ and cornea transplant in South Africa.” said Walker.
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