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All aboardfor Vintageby the Sea

Eight pagesof Lilywhites

news & viewsInTheGentry, fromPage21

21

Monday, September 5, 2016 www.lep.co.uk

LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

Baptiste is backAlex ready to make up for lost time

WWW.LEP.CO.UK05.09.2016

thegentryp g g

PNEnamechange toboost countyorgandonorcampaign

MAKE AN ENDA BEEEGGGIIINNNNNNIIINNNGGGLANCASHIRE’S newestfootball club has been re-vealed today – Preston NorthBeginning.The club is temporarily be-

ing re-named to highlight animportant cause.Today marks the start of

Organ Donation Week andthe campaign is calling onpeople to “Turn an End intoa Beginning” by talking aboutorgan donation by encourag-ing people to tell their familythey want to be a donor.Andy Haythornthwaite,

head of community at PrestonNorth End, said: “We hopeto inspire more people from

Preston to Turn An End IntoA Beginning by talking aboutorgan donation.”At the start of this year,

the Lancashire Evening Postlaunched its Lancashire: iv-ing the ift of Life campaignwith the aim of getting at leastanother 2, people to signup as organ donors in 2 .Figures today show that

7,527 people have registeredon the Organ Donor Registersince the campaign began.Natalie err, , from Ad-

lington, near Chorley, had adouble lung transplant ust asshe thought she was reachingthe end. She said: “ y trans-plant gave me a future withmy children.”

By AASMA [email protected]@AASMADAY

FULL ST Y A S

AAMM AAaattaall ee eerrrr

tt tt eeBB ccrree tt

Pages 16 &33

8

WHEN Natalie Kerr began noticingshe was getting out of breath afterhaving her irst child, she put it downto juggling a busy life as a mother andworking as a nurse.

Natalie, now 34, who lives in Ad-lington, near Chorley, explains: “Ihad always been ine and healthy asa child, but after having my son Bran-don, I began experiencing breathless-ness.

“I thought I was just unit and may-be doing too much as after Brandonwas born, I went back to university tostudy to become a nurse and I was al-ways rushing around.

“I went to the doctors quite a fewtimes telling them that I kept gettingout of breath but they told me I wasine.”

After repeatedly going to the doc-tors, Natalie had a heart scan andhad heart traces but was told every-thing was ine.

It was only when she gave birth toher second child Isabelle in 2008 thatshe was diagnosed with a conditionthat had caused damage to her heartand lungs.

Natalie recalls: “I was really poorlyduring labour with Isabelle as I couldnot breathe.

“So doctors did tests including aheart scan and chest X-rays and diag-nosed me with pulmonary hyperten-sion.

“After I had Isabelle, I was toldthat there was no cure for this condi-tion and that the outlook wasn’t goodas most people only lived three yearswith it.

“It was heartbreaking. I had justhad this little baby and I was beingtold I might not be here to watch heror my son grow up.

“It was devastating as all I haveever wanted is to be a mum andwatch my children grow up.”

Natalie was put on medication toimprove her quality oflife and managed to staystable for around a year.

But then she begandeteriorating and strug-gled to be the mum shewanted to be. She was onoxygen and had to have astairlift itted at home.

As her condition wors-ened, Natalie was listedfor a transplant in 2011and continued to dete-riorate.

Natalie says: “Youhave to be at the endand have exhausted all other optionsbefore you are considered for trans-plant.”

When Natalie went into Wythen-shawe Hospital for assessment, shegot hold of her medical notes andsaw the words “Prognosis: Less thana year” which really shook her up.

Natalie says: “Seeing these wordsin black and white made the enor-

mity of my situation hit home.“I realised time was rapidly run-

ning out for me.“I knew then that I desperately

wanted a transplant as it was my onlyhope.

“However, doctors had warned methere was a real chanceI might not get a trans-plant as there was ashortage of organs avail-able and a lot of peopledied while on the wait-ing list.”

Natalie had to gothrough the heartacheof making a will andplanning a funeral toprepare for the worstcase scenario.

She turned 30 in No-vember 2011 and as shecut her birthday cake

with photos of her children on it, sherealised everyone around her wascrying.

Natalie remembers: “I realisedthen that people were crying becausethey thought this would be the lastbirthday I had.”

That Christmas, Natalie becameeven more poorly and blacked out afew times.

As a result, she was put on the pri-ority list for a transplant.

In February 2012 she received acall telling her a nhad been found for

Natalie says: “I wwas texting everyonlance telling them.

“I wasn’t frighreached a stage wpoorly, I wanted a c

Natalie underwhour operation anshe had a photo ofdren at the end oinspiration to recovas possible and geto them.

Natalie says: “Awas given my newdifferent and I couagain. It felt amazi

It has now beand-a-half years sformer nurse htransplant andloving being a muBrandon, now 14Isabelle, eight.

Natalie says: “Itbrilliant, I am alivand I can breathe.

“Just to be able

to breathe is incredible. I’d been illfor so long and couldn’t be a mum.

“Now we spend quality time to-s.s in life Ile to walke her faceg her facem there.ew begin-o grateful

y.nor is thatifties whooked after

e a future

e - my chil-ause of myamily.other peo-n donationabout it.

rful thing.organ do-oud that I

making thest of mye with herngs.”

www.lep.co.uk Monday, September 5, 2016LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

12, she received anew pair of lungsr her transplant.was so excited andne from the ambu-

htened as I hadwhere I was sochance of life.”

went the eightnd in hospital,f her two chil-of her bed asver as quicklyt back home

As soon as Ilungs, I felt

uld breatheng.”en four-since thead hershe isum toand

t isve

Now we spend qualitygether and make memories

“It’s all the little thingstreasure such as being ablIsabelle to school and seewhen she goes in and seeinwhen she comes out and I’m

“My transplant was a nening, a fresh start and I’m sto my donor and her family

“All I know about my donshe was a woman in her fididn’t smoke and really looher lungs.

“My transplant gave mewith my children.

“What a legacy to leavedren have their mum becaamazing donor and her fa

“I would encourage ople to think about organand talk to their family

“It is such a wonder“I hope my o

nor is proam mmoslifelun

Lungtransplantgave

TOMORROW: We talk to a Lancashire teacher who had a liver

HOPE: Natalie Kerr from Adlington, had a double lung transplant, pictured with children Brandon, 13, and Isabelle, eight.

This week is Organ Donation Week. Aasma Day talks to Lancashire mumNatalie Kerr who had almost reached the end of her life when she was givena new beginning with a double lung transplant.

“Just tobe able to

breathe isincredible.

I’d been ill forso long and

couldn’t be amum.”

9Monday,September5,2016 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIREEVENINGPOST

meanewleaseof life

transplant after one of her pupils told her she was “yellow”

CHANGE: Natalie Kerr pictured at Preston North End’s Deepdale stadium - the club has been temporarily renamed “Preston North Beginning” as part of Organ Donation Week.

EVERYdayacross theUK,around threepeoplewhocouldhavebeneited fromatransplantdiebecause therearen’t enoughdonors.InLancashire, therearearound 153peoplewaiting fora transplantnowandtheyneedpeople toagree todonate for themtogettheorgan transplant theysodesperatelyneedl In2015/16 13people inLancashirediedbefore theyreceived theorgan they

desperatelyneededl In2015/1674 people inLancashirereceivedapotentially lifesavingortransforming transplantTherearecurrently498,839peopleresiding in theLancashirepostcodeareaon theUKOrganDonorRegister.Manypeoplebelieve it is justacaseofsigning theNHSOrganDonorRegister.However, if youdie incircumstanceswhereyoucouldbecomeanorgandonor, your

familywouldbeapproachedbyspecialistnursesandasked tosupport yourdecisiontobecomeanorgandonor.AnthonyClarkson, assistantdirector fororgandonationandnursingatNHSBloodandTransplantsays: “Toomany familiesfacedwith thepossibilityofdonatingarelative’sorgansdonotknowwhat theywantedandindthemselveshaving tomakethedecisionon theirbehalf.“Thismakeswhat isalreadyanemotional

anddiicult timeevenharder.“It is thereforevital you tell your familyaboutyourorgandonordecision tomake iteasier for themtosupportwhatyouwant.“Manydonor familiessay thatdonationhelpswith theirgriedand they feelenormousprideatknowing their relativewenton tosave livesafter theydiedgivingothers thechanceofanewbeginning.”DuringOrganDonationWeek,hospitals,health teams, charitiesandsupportersand

their familieswill behighlighting theneedforpeople to talkaboutorgandonationandshare theirdecisionwith their family.Startaconversation todayandheld turnanend intoabeginning.l Visitwww.organdonation.nhs.ukorcall03001232323.Shareyourdecisionwithyour familyusinghashtag#YesIDonateToregisterasanorgandonor throughtheLancashireEveningPost’s campaign, visit:htp://bit.ly/givethegiftolife

Over 150Lancashirepeopleareonorganswapwaiting list

6 www.lep.co.uk Tuesday, September 6, 2016LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

“MISS - your eyes are a funnycolour!”As a pr imary schoo l

teacher, Emma Gregson wasused to hearing pupils comeout with bizarre commentsso at first she didn’t take thenine-year-old boy’s commentstoo seriously.But later on, she looked in

the mirror and realised he wasright.Emma, now 36, who lives

in Chorley and is a primaryschool teacher in Adlington,explains: “I noticed the whitesof my eyes had gone yellowand my face had gone yellowtoo.“I had always been ine and

healthy before then so I wasnot unduly worried.“This was in the middle of

September 2012 and I had alsobeen feeling quite tired.“However, I had just started

my new job so I put the tired-ness down to this.”Emma went to see her GP

who thought there may be aproblem with Emma’s gallbladder as this can lead tosigns of jaundice.She told Emma she

would refer her to hospitalfor investigations.But Emma’s condition

deteriorated rapidly andshe turned a lot moreyellow, felt extremely

lethargic and had a pain in herstomach and itchy legs.Emma recal ls : “Being

healthy otherwise, I still wasn’ttoo concerned.“I thought it was just a little

blip and that even if there wasa problem with my gall blad-der, they’d just whip it out andget it sorted.”Emma returned to her GP

who sent her straight to hos-pital. At this stage, doctorsstill suspected a problem withEmma’s gall bladder and car-ried out a scan.This revealed Emma’s liver

was very shrunken and hardand wasn’t working properly.Medics tried to kickstart

Emma’s liver into working,but their attempts proved fu-tile.Emma was transferred to

St James Hospital in Leedswhich a specialist liver trans-plant centre and she was in

there for three weeks.Specialists tried her on dif-

ferent medications and moni-tored her.Despite their efforts, Emma

carried on deteriorating and itreached the point where shewas so poorly and her liverfunction was so low that doc-tors gave her just seven days tolive without a liver transplant.Before her surgery, Emma

was in a wheelchair as one ofthe functions of the liver ishelping to control the clottingof blood.As Emma’s liver function

was virtually non existent,if she had fallen, she wouldhave suffered massive internalbleeding.Emma remembers: “It was

very frightening to be told youonly have seven days to live.“It is a strange situation to

be in as everything is out ofyour control and you can’t doanything.“All I could do is put my

trust into themedical staff andtry and be cheerful and posi-tive about it all.“I did cry when they told me

I only had seven days to livewithout a transplant - but thatwas the only time I cried.”Emma was prepared for

two liver transplants but thesurgery did not go ahead whenit transpired the quality ofthe donor livers was not goodenough.When doctors told Emma

they had another liver for her,she tried not to get her

hopes up, but med-ics sounded veryhopeful about thequality of thisliver.

It was thirdtime lucky forEmma as thistime the livert r a n s p l a n twent aheadand the op-eration tookabout sixhours.

Emmaw a s i nintensivec a r e a tf i rs t andwas thenmoved to award.Determined

to recover as quickly

as possible and get home,Emma managed to get out ofbed and walk within a day ofthe surgery.She then set herself goals of

having all the tubes removedas quickly as possible and shemanaged to return home justnine days after the transplant.Doctors think

Emma’s l i verwas damagedby auto immunehepatitis. It isnot known whatcauses this tosuddenly hap-pen.A f t e r h e r

t r a n s p l a n t ,Emma recoveredwell and man-aged to returnto her work as ateacher on a part-time basis sixmonths later.She then went back to full-

time work the following Sep-tember.Emma says: “The school,

staff and pupils were verygood and supportive.

“I talked about what hap-pened to me and the trans-plant quite openly at schooland explained it to people.“It was a bit of a shock for

the pupils but they have beenreally good and are alwaysvery careful with germs anduse hand gel as they know my

immune system islowered becauseof the anti-rejec-tion medication Iam on.“The school has

also raised moneyfor St James Hos-pital as recognitionfor my transplantand treatment.”Apart from be-

ing on a low doseof anti-rejectionm e d i c a t i o n ,

Emma says she is enjoying lifeto the full and says she hasn’tlet her transplant stop her inany way.Emma says: “There are cer-

tain things I have to be care-ful of such as not eating thingssuch as prawns, shellfish and

soft cheese because of the riskof listeria and my low immunesystem and avoiding germs.“But apart from that, I just

get on with and enjoy life andsometimes I almost forget ithappened to me.”All Emma knows about her

donated liver is that it camefrom a young man who had anaccident. Emma has writtento his family to express howthankful she is for the gift oflife.Emma says: “It is hard to

put yourself in the shoes of thefamily.“But if this awful thing has

happened, it is nice to seesomething positive come outof it.“Organ donation has given

me life. It is an amazing gift.“I think the theme of this

year’s Organ Donation Weekto ‘Turn an End into a Begin-ning’ is a great idea as it willget people talking about organdonation.“I was so very near the end

and was given a new beginningwith the liver transplant.”

Myliver transplantgav

TOMORROW: We speak to a man who thought that he had lu

Thisweek isOrganDonationWeekandpeoplearebeingurged to“TurnanEnd intoaBeginning”by talkingaboutorgandonation.TodayAASMADAYtalks to teacherEmmaGregsonwhowasdaysawayfromdeathafter suddenly turningyellow.

TRANSPLANT: Emma Gregson was days away from death before her transplant

NEW BEGINNING:eating an ice lollybecause one of hersymptoms was gettingvery hot

“I did crywhen they told

me I only hadseven days tolive without

a transplant -but that was

the only time.“

7Tuesday, September 6, 2016 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIREEVENINGPOST

vemeanewbeginning

but ended up needing to have a life-saving heart transplant

LAUNCH: Transplant patient Emma Gregson pictured at the launch of “Preston North Beginning”

DOUBLE TRANSPLANT:Natalie Kerr

ASpartofOrganDonorAware-nessWeek,PrestonNorthEndhastemporarilychanged itsnameto“PrestonNorthBeginning”tohighlightawarenessoforgandonation.TheEveningPostrevealedthetemporarynamechangeandEmmaGregsonandNatalieKerr,amumwhowasgivenher lifebackwithadouble lungtransplant,launchedthecampaign.AndyHaythornthwaite,headofcommunityatPrestonNorthEnd,says: “We’redelightedtobesupportingOrganDonationWeekandweareproudtotemporarily

become ‘PrestonNorthBegin-ning’ forsuchan importantcause.“Usingthepowerof theclubandfootball ingeneral,wealreadysupportanumberof local initia-tivestohelppromotethehealthofour localcommunity.“Wehopeto inspirepeople tosharetheirorgandonationdeci-sionwiththeir familyandhelpturnanend intoabeginning.”EverydayacrosstheUK,aroundthreewhocouldhavebeneitedfromatransplantdiebecausetherearen’tenoughorgandonors.Therearecurrentlyaround6,500

people in theUKonthewaiting listforatransplant.Yetof theapproximatelyhalfamillionpeoplewhodieeachyearacrosstheUK,onlyaboutonepercentdie incircumstanceswheretheirorganscanbedonated.Withsuchsmallnumbersofpeopledying intherightcircum-stancestobecomeanorgandonorandsomanyadultsandchildren inneedof transplant, it isvitalnoopportunity forsomeonetobecomeadonor ismissed.Manypeoplebelieve it is justacaseofsigningtheNHSOrganDonorRegister.

However, if youdie incircum-stanceswhereyoucouldbecomeanorgandonor,yourfamilywouldbeapproachedbyspecialistnursesandtheywouldbeaskedtosupportyourdecisiontobeanorgandonor.NHSBloodandTransplantiguresshowthatonly47percentoffamiliesagreetoorgandonationif theyareunawareof their lovedone’sdecisiontobeadonor.Yetalmost90percentof familiesgivetheirconsentwhenthedecisiontobeanorgandonor isknown.DuringOrganDonationWeek,

hospitals,healthteams,charitiesandsupportersandtheir familieswill behighlightingtheneedforpeople totalkaboutorgandona-tionandsharetheirdecisionwiththeir family.Startaconversationtodayandhelptoturnanend intoabegin-ning.l Visitwww.organdonation.nhs.ukorcall03001232323.Shareyourdecisionwithyourfamilyusinghashtag#YesIDonateToregisterasanorgandonorthroughtheLancashireEveningPost’scampaign,visit:htp://bit.ly/givethegiftolife

Newbeginningas football clubhelpshighlightawareness

6 www.lep.co.uk Wednesday, September 7, 2016LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

WHEN Peter Wakeield began suf-fering from a cough and symptoms ofa cold, he thought he just had a touchof lu and carried on as normal.A couple of weeks later, Peter’s

symptoms hadn’t cleared up and hefelt out of breath and then onemorn-ing, he woke up to find his face allswollen.Peter, who was 29 at the time and

lives in Heysham, near Morecambe,explains: “It all began at the end ofMarch last year but I did not thinkanything of it at irst as I just thoughtI had lu.“I had a cough, was out of breath

and had general lu type symptoms.“Then onemorning I woke up with

such a swollen face, I looked like theElephantMan.“I couldn’t even see out of my eyes

properly as my eyelids were so swol-len.”Peter, who was working maintain-

ing caravan parks in Morecambe,Blackpool and Cumbria at the time,rang 111 andwas booked in to a sameday surgery to see a doctor.After listening to Peter’s heart and

breathing, the doctor told him he wasine and thought he had just had anallergic reaction to something andtold him to get some antihistamines.However, the next morning, Pe-

ter began coughing up blood. Hethought it was probably down tograzing his throat through coughingsomuch, but rang 111 again who toldhim to go to A&E.After hearing Peter’s symptoms,

the hospital doctor at Royal Lancas-ter Inirmary asked Peter if there wasany hereditary heart disease in hisfamily and Peter explained his dad,also called Peter Wakeield, died ofa heart attack at the age of 47 whenPeter was nine.Peter recalls: “The kept me in hos-

pital for tests and told me that some-thing was deinitely not right but theywere not sure what it was.“Scans and tests showed I had

patches on my lung, partial pneumo-nia and a blood clot on my lung.“I then had an echocardiogram

and a total scan of my heart andthis revealed my heart was basicallyknackered.”Tests revealed Peter

had become ill with a vi-rus which had attackedhis heart which led todestroying it leavinghim with dilated cardio-myopathy – where theheart muscle becomesstretched and thin.Peter was referred

to Lancashire CardiacCentre in Blackpoolwhere they carried outfurther tests and man-aged to control Peter’sheart with medication.Doctors were planning to fit Pe-

ter’s heart with a mini defibrillatorbut the procedure had tobe cancelled twice as hewas too ill.After three weeks at

Blackpool, Peter was re-ferred to WythenshaweHospital in Manchesterand was shocked to betold his heart was onlyfunctioning at 25 percent and he needed tobe put on the urgentwaiting list for a hearttransplant.Peter, now 30, who

has a six-year-old sonGeorge, remembers: “I had alreadybeen warned this would be the worst

case scenario but it was a hugeshock.“You don’t expect to be told you

need a heart transplant at 29.“I had always been fit and active

and I played football and went ondays out with my son.“I had never been in hospital be-

fore and never really been ill beforeso to suddenly have something majorlike this happen was a massive shock.“Doctors told me I had to stay in

hospital until they found a new heartand told me that without a trans-plant, I wouldn’t see the year out.“That’s when it hit home and really

sank in.”Medics kept Peter’s heart going

with medication and in August last

year, he was told they had a newheart.All Peter knows about is donor is

that she was a woman in her 50s.He admits he did feel guilty at the

realisation that someone else diedbefore he was given his chance tolive.Peter explains: “When I was on the

waiting list for a transplant, I did feeluncomfortable as I felt I was waitingfor someone else to pass away for mychance to live.“It does make you feel guilty, but

if the person had opted into organdonation, it is what they wanted andtheir choice.”The heart transplant went ahead

and was a success and Peter recalls

noticing a difference straight away.He says: “It felt like a whole weighthad been lifted.“Before the transplant, I was strug-

gling to breathe. Even when I went tothe toilet, my heartbeat would rise.“But after the transplant, I felt nor-

mal. I was in critical care for a weekbut I was walking within two days.”While in hospital, Peter became

friends with another man waiting fora heart transplant called ChristopherRandall who was in his 50s.Sadly, Christopher died while wait-

ing for a transplant but he donatedhis own organs.Peter says: “Christopher was an

amazing person who made every daybetter in the hospital.“But unfortunately a transplant

never came in time for him.“He was in a worse way than me

and deteriorated and passed away.“However, he ended up saving two

people’s lives with giving his organsfor donation.”Peter says it was a dificult time for

his family when he was in hospitaland his brothers and sisters had to betested for heart conditions too.One of his sisters was supposed

to get married last August but post-poned the wedding as she did notwant to go ahead with it while Peterwas in hospital.Peter is on anti-rejection medica-

tion but apart from that, he feels asgood as he did before and is gettingon with his life.Peter says: “I feel fine physically

and mentally and I am now doingeverything I did before – football,days out and spending time with myson and I am out on my bike everyday.“The only thing I am struggling

with is getting back into work sincemy transplant.“I am a bricklayer by trade but

when I try and get work, I am askedwhy I was out of work for a year andtell them I have had a transplant.“I even tried to get a job in a chip-

py but did not get it.“I feel as good as I did before and

just want to get back to work.”Peter has now reached the one

year milestone since his transplantand says it feels amazing to be hereafter all he has gone through.He says: “It is brilliant and I feel

so back to normal now, it does some-times feel like it never happened.“To be honest, I had never really

thought about organ donation untilthis happened to me.“Now I think so highly of organ do-

nation as I would not be here withoutit and somany people would not havea second chance of life.“A lot of people would be willing

to accept an organ if they neededone, but are not willing to give.“But if everyone thought like that,

there would be no transplants.”

IthoughtIhadflu,but

TOMORROW: Double lung-swap musician writes tribute song

INSPIRATION: Peter almost a year on from his life-saving operation with a photo of his son George, six.

Thisweek isOrganDonationWeekandpeoplearebeingurged to turnanendintoabeginning.Today,AasmaDay talks toLancashiredadPeterWakeieldwho thoughthehadlubutendedupneedinga life-savingheart transplant.

�� lot ofpeople would

be willingto accept an

organ if theyneeded one, butare not willing

to give.”

7Wednesday, September 7, 2016 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

Ineeded a new heart

to donor

TREATMENT: Peter in hospital a year ago, above, with Christopher Randall, who he becamefriends with in hospital while waiting for a heart transplant, below left; and son George, right.

During Organ Donation Week, hospitals, health teams, charities andsupporters and their families will be highlighting the need for peopleto talk about organ donation and share their decision with theirfamily.Start a conversation today and help to turn an end into a beginning.l Visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23. Shareyour decision with your family using hashtag #YesIDonateTo register as an organ donor through the Lancashire Evening Post’scampaign, visit: htp://bit.ly/givethegiftolife

Organ donation:time to talk about it

lep.co.uk


Tuesday, January 3, 2017 70p

Making the news and campaigning for our local community since 1886


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eINDEPENDENT FUNERAL DIRECTORS

Proud to be independent211 Station Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire PR5 6LDTel: 01772 902345 Fax: 01772 901122Email: [email protected] Web: www.ianwildefunerals.co.uk

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Murderprobe:Man held

Frackingdebate torumble on

PackedPeoplepullout

Full story: See Page 5

Starts on Page 17

Special report: Pages 24&25

P k d

17

Tuesday, January 3, 2017 www.lep.co.ukLANCASHIRE EVENING POST

This livelycommunitygroup isproudof itsMontserratheritageandprovidesasocialsetingand leisureactivities tohelppeopleto improvetheirwellbeingandkeep in touchwiththeirroots

YourSocieties:Page30

Lookwho’sbeenoutonthetown...

YOUR NIGHT OUT: PAGE 32

Welcometotheworld

NEW ARRIVALS: PAGE 19

LEPPEOPLE

FLYING FLAG OFISLAND PRIDELEGACY

OF LIFEALMOST 30,000 Lancashire peoplehave signed up to leave the legacy oflife since the Lancashire Evening Postlaunched its campaign to recruit moreorgan donors.In January last year, we launched our

Lancashire: Giving The GiftOf Life campaign with theaim of spurring on an extra2,016 people to sign up as do-nors during 2016.But igures showmore than

10 times that number havejoined theNHSOrganDonorRegister with 28,861 people joiningfrom Lancashire alone. Organ donor

chiefs have praised the Lan-cashire Evening Post for thecampaignwhile a dadwhohasdonated one of his kidneys toa complete stranger has toldhis story to raise awarenessof donation. Ben Armstrong,specialist nurse in organ Do-

nation at NHS Blood and Transplantsaid: “The Lancashire Evening Post’s

campaign to promote organ donationwill have inspired many people to jointheNHSOrganDonorRegister whichis fantastic news.“I’d like to say thank you to the

Lancashire Evening Post for spear-heading a drive for more donors fromthe area.”

BY AASMA [email protected]@AASMADAY

30,000 people sign up to our organ donor campaign

TURN TO PAGES 8&9

DONOR: MarkHoughton

8 www.lep.co.uk Tuesday, January 3, 2017LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

SPECIAL REPORT

IT was a combination of feel-ing powerless at the death ofhis father and being gratefulfor his own good health de-spite abusing his body withheavy alcohol consumptionthat Mark Houghton believeswere the factors in driving himto donate one of his kidneys toa total stranger.Mark, 53, was first given

the idea of donating a kidneyafter listening to a radio showby chance where the subject ofaltruistic kidney donation wasbeing discussed.Mark, who has a partner Jul-

ie and two grown-up daughtersand a granddaughter, explains:“It all began around last sum-mer when I heard a radio showwhere they were talking aboutaltruistic kidney donation.“I knew you could donate

organs after you died and Iknew at the back of my mindthat family members couldgive a kidney to another familymember while still alive.“But I did not realise you

could give a kidney to a com-plete stranger who needs one.“After hearing about it, I de-

cided it was something I want-ed to do.”Mark believes his decision to

donate was two-pronged withthe first being his gratitudeof his own good health afterhe decided to give up alcoholwhen realising he was drinkingfar too much.Mark, a self employed hand-

yman from Ellel, near Lancas-ter, admits: “Like a lot of peo-ple, I was alcohol dependent.“I used to drink way too

much and was probably a bor-derline alcoholic.“Then almost four years ago,

I made a decision to give up

drink. In the last week before Igave up drink, I was drinking abottle of whisky every day.“I just knew I had to stop this

and give up alcohol and luckilyI managed to give up.“I have not had an alcoholic

drink since.”Mark was heartened to ind

that despite his heavy drinking,he hadn’t done any permanentharm to his body.He says: “I am really fortu-

nate as my health has been un-affected.“I felt very lucky to have

given up the booze and comeaway unscathed and I wantedto take something positivefrom that.“I wanted to do something

of genuine good.”Mark cites the other rea-

son for his kidney donation asstemming from the death of hisbeloved dad Barrie of Alzhe-imer’s Disease at the age of 66in 2003.Mark says: “My dad was

diagnosed with Alzheimer’sDisease when he was only inhis mid-50s which is not too farfrom where I am now and he

OUR CAMPAIGNBen Armstrong, special-ist nurse in organ Donationat NHS Blood and Trans-plant says: “The LancashireEvening Post’s campaign topromote organ donation willhave inspired many peopleto join the NHS Organ DonorRegister which is fantasticnews.“I’d like to say thank you tothe Lancashire Evening Postfor spearheading a drive formore donors from the area.”“We really appreciate all thesupport we have had fromthe paper and we hope thiscampaign will continuetoprompt conversations about

organ donation.“If you have already joinedthe Organ Donor Register,we urge you to tell your fam-ily about your decision.“Every day across the UKaround, three people whocould have beneited from atransplant die because therearen’t enough organ donors.“We need more organ do-nors to save and transformlives.”Sally Johnson, NHS Bloodand Transplant director oforgan donation and trans-plantation, says: “It is a ter-rible shame that so manypeople who want to save

lives through organ dona-tion have not taken the nextsimple step to register thatdecision.“We all have busy lives yetmost of us would admit thatwe still ind ourselves whil-ing time away and delayingdoing important things.“Signing up to the NHS Or-gan Donor Register is onething we know people oftenjust haven’t got around todoing.”• To join the Organ DonorRegister, visit: htps://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-to-donate/register-your-details

died at the age of 66. My dad’sdeath was one of themost trau-matic things I went throughand themost dificult thing wasfeeling powerless as I knew Icould not do anything to savehim.“I wonder if this kidney do-

nation is deep down my way ofsaving someone else because Icould not save my dad.”Donating a kidney is the lat-

est in a series of unusual chal-lenges Mark set himself in re-cent times.Mark lived in France for 15

years and came back to the UKin September 2015.Mark says: “After I gave up

the booze, I did a half mara-thon with my daughter to raisemoney for the Alzheimer’sSociety. And in 2015, I walkedfrommy house in France to my

As the Lancashire Evening Post reveals almost 29,000 peoplehave joined the NHSOrgan Donor Register since we launched our“Lancashire: Giving the gift of life” campaign, AASMADAY talksto a manwho is recovering after donating his kidney to a stranger

‘WhyI gavethe giftof life’

�Tuesday, January 3, 2017 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

dad’s grave in Lancaster. It was450 miles and I did it for theAlzheimer’s Society. It tookmethree weeks and I arrived at mydad’s grave on Father’s Day.“It made me feel I had done

something positive from it.“This year, I ran the More-

cambe Bay cycleway. It was 81miles and I ran it in three days.I did this to raise money for StJohn’s Hospice in Lancaster.”After deciding he would like

to donate his kidney, Markresearched altruistic kidneydonation and discovered therewas a kidney donor co-ordina-tor Fiona Biggins at Preston.He went to see her to ind out

more about the procedureand what it entailed. Af-ter undergoing all therelevant tests, Markunderwent surgery toremove his kidney onNovember 30 at Man-chester Royal Inirmaryand the procedure took

around three-and-a-halfhours.Mark says he has absolutely

no regrets and didn’t have anydoubts along the way.He says: “I only did this after

hearing about kidney donationon the radio by chance and assoon as I made the decision, Ididn’t look back.“Just before you go under,

you do hope you are going towake up again. I have had noregrets – in fact, quite the op-posite, I have felt almost eu-phoric.“I am very happy with how

the recovery is going.“I am in very little pain. The

only thing I am taking is oneparacetamol. The wound willtake about 12 weeks to heal.“For me, it was a very easy

thing to do.

“My kids are grown up and Iam in good health and my lifegave me lexibility to do this.“Donating a kidney to a

stranger may not be for eve-ryone but I would like peopleto consider the fact it can bedone.“I am so happy I had the op-

portunity to do this. How of-ten do you have the chance tochange someone else’s life?“Someone said to me,

‘You will have made a mas-sive difference to someone’sChristmas’, and I hadn’t reallythought of it like that.“The person who received

my kidney may have been ondialysis and to have this trans-plant may have changed theirlife.“I have no idea who my kid-

ney was given to but themedicswill have put it into the personwho I matched best.“Hopefully, it has changed

their life and that is all I needto know. That is all that mat-ters to me and that is all I needto know. I did not do this to getany thanks but because it wasthe right thing to do.”

There arecurrently

154 people inLancashireon the

transplantiti list

ASHORTAGEOFDONORS

means toomanypeople die before

they get thetransplant they

need.In the last ive

years, 71 people inLancashire havediedwaiting for a

transplant

In the lastFIVE

YEARS,384 people inancashire havead a life changingtransplant.

When the LancashireEvening Post launched its

“GIVINGTHEGIFTOF LIFE”campaign in January last year,therewere 480,606 people inthe county on the UKOrgan

Donor Register.Latest igures as of October 312016 reveal there are now

509,467Lancashire people on

the register

aiting li

Thanks to peopledonating after theirdeaths, over the lastyear 78 people in

Lancashire have had apotentially life

changing transplant

Laha

INSPIRATION:Mark Houghton asa child with his dadBarrie who diedof Alzheimer’sDisease at 66

ON TH R N:Mark hhhas eenraaaiiisssiiinnnggg mone

6 www.lep.co.uk Wednesday, January 4, 2017LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

SPECIAL REPORT

LOVINGLY holding JohneJohnson’s hand for the lasttime, wife Debbie and herfamily see this emotional pho-tograph as a symbol of hopedespite their overwhelmingsadness at losing him.It was the last photograph

taken before Johne was takenaway to have his organs re-moved for donation after suf-fering a fatal brain haemor-rhage.Debbie, 45, of Heeley Road,

St Annes, explains: “I alwaysloved Johne’s hands and theywere very special to me.“I am a proper romantic and

big softie and I always thoughtmy hands itted perfectly withhis.“Before Johne had to leave

us for organ donation, I knewwe needed a picture of all ofour hands together.“The photo

s h o w sJohne’sh a n d

with my hand, the hands of mythree children and the handof Johne’s daughter Frankie,from his previous marriage,who is 22.”

Johne, 54, who was a build-er, had always been healthyand well but Debbie revealsJohne predicted he woulddie at the age of 54 after hisown dad died at 54.

Debbie, who had beentogether with Johne

for seven years, would havebeen celebrating her thirdwedding anniversary on May5 2015.Instead, almost three years

to the day, she walked downthe same aisle as on her wed-ding day with her husband’scofin.

“Johne’s dad died when hewas 54 and Johne thought hewould die at the same age andoften talked to me about it.“When Johne and I got to-

gether, he brought up my chil-dren Lucy, now 14 and Jordan,now 13 as his own and we hadJack together, who is now six.“When Johne was 53, he

said: ‘I’ve not got long now’but I told him not to be silly ashe wasn’t going to die and thatJack needed him as did we all.”Johne had shown no signs of

ill health until April 2015 whenhe had been suffering head-aches for about three weeks.However, he thought theywere just caused by stress.Debbie recalls: “Johne

didn’t really thinkanything of the head-aches, but on the Fri-day, he had a bit ofa blackout so I tookhim to the doctors.

“ T h e d o c t o rchecked him overand told us tocome back onthe Monday formore tests in-cluding bloodtests and anECG.“H ow e v e r ,

Johne died on theSaturday. It was a

huge shock to every-one.”

Debbie, a manager of a cafein St Annes, was with Johne atthe time of his death. On theSaturday morning, he told herhe was feeling exhausted soshe gave him a painkiller andtold him to try and get somerest.Debbie remembers: “Johne

told me he couldn’t sleep as allsorts of things were going oninside his head.“I wish I’d asked him what

sorts of things were goingthrough his mind.“I then told Johne I was go-

ing shopping and would onlybe a couple of hours and wouldbe back about 3pm.“At 3.05pm, Johne rang me

and said he felt sick. I told himI was only ive minutes away.“When I got home, I went

upstairs and found Johnekeeled over on the bed and hisT-shirt was wet through.“He said: ‘Debs, I am gone’

but I told him to keep breath-ing and I put him into the re-covery position and waited forthe ambulance to arrive.“Johne’s breathing was go-

ing and as I was looking at him,the colour was draining outof his body and I knew thingsweren’t looking good.”Johne was taken to hospital

where doctors told the familythey suspected he had suffereda massive brain haemorrhageand sadly nothing more couldbe done for him.Medics asked Debbie if the

family had considered organdonation and told her Johnewas registered on the NHSOr-gan Donor Register.Debbie says: “It was such a

horrendous time and I was try-ing to absorb the informationthat my husband was dead.“I felt like my heart had

been ripped out and was in to-tal shock and could not believewhat had suddenly happened.“It felt so surreal and sad.“Until the subject of organ

donation was broached, I hadnot really thought about it.“Even though Johne had

talked about his fear of dyingat the age of 54, we had not dis-cussed organ donation.“Being told that he was on

the organ donor register madethe decision easier. I felt wewere fulfilling Johne’s wishesand we agreed to his organsbeing donated.”Debbie says even at the mo-

ment of intense grief, she re-calls getting some solace fromknowing her husband’s organswould bemaking amassive dif-ference to someone else’s life.Debbie says: “I remember

thinking: ‘While I am herenow, somebody at this momentin time is receiving a telephonecall telling them that doctorshave an organ which will eithersave or dramatically improvetheir life.“I realised that as hard as

it was for us going throughsuch pain and loss, that it wasa good thing that somethingso positive and amazing couldcome out of a tragedy.“You don’t realise how

many people are waiting fororgan transplants and what ahuge impact organ donation

‘BeforeJohnehadto leaveus fororgandonation, Iknewweneededapictureofallofourhandstogether’

TheLancashireEveningPost launched its “Lancashire:Giving thegiftof life”campaign toboost thenumberoforgandonorsacross thecounty.Thecampaignhasachievedsuccess in raisingawarenessof theneed fordonationand latestigures reveal28,861people fromLancashire registeredasorgandonors in the lastyear.Today,AASMADAYtalks toDebbie JohnsonwhosehusbandJohnepredictedhisowndeathat theageof54andwhyshemade thedecision todonatehisorgans.

POIGNANT PICTURE: All of the family hold hands

HUGE SHOCK: Debbie witha picture of husband Johne

7Wednesday, January 4, 2017 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

LIFE-SAVING DECISION: Debbie with her children Jack and Lucy

CARING: Johne with son Jack. SADNESS: Johne Johnson

HAPPY TIMES: The couple together

STEPPING OUT: The coupleenjoy a night dancing

WEDDING DAY: The happycouple

FAMILY MAN: With thechildren

can make on their lives.”Before Johne was taken to

have his organs removed fordonation, the photograph fea-turing his hand with the handsof his wife and children wastaken and it is an emotionalimage which they treasure.Debbie says: “We know that

somebody received Johne’spancreas and another personreceived a kidney and some-one else received a heart valve.“Losing Johne was terrible

and since his death, I wasn’tsleeping properly and I kepthaving dreams about him.“I wish Johne was still here,

but he is not and nothing canchange that.

“But it does make me feelbetter knowing that other peo-ple have gained from our lossand that Johne’s organs wentto helping other people.“It is heartening to know

that there are families outthere who are not goingthrough the pain that we wentthrough because Johne’s or-gans are helping them keeptheir loved ones for longer.“I feel like part of me died

with Johne and I haven’t beenthe same since losing him.“Johne was just such a lov-

able guy and was a very funnyman who was always crackingjokes and he was a real peo-ple’s person.

“If someone asked him, hewould have given them theshirt off his back as that wasthe type of kind person he was.“I know organ donation is

what he would have wantedand even though I would soon-er have Johne, I do feel somecomfort from knowing he ishelping other people even af-ter death.”l To join the Organ Do-nor Register, visit: https://www.organdonat ion.nhs .u k / r e g i s t e r - t o - d o n a t e /register-your-details/?utm_urce=lanceveningpost&utm_med ium=banne r&u tm_c ampa i g n= l a n c a s h i r e _evening_post

6

felt strongly aboutwanting todo.Beryl explains: “Hesaid ‘Your

body is no good to youwhen youdie - if you can help someone,why not?’

“So when he was in the hospi-tal with no hope of recovering,his family knew that is what hewanted.”

Tragically, only months af-ter Tony’s death tragedy struckagain forBeryl.

She says: “Tony died on De-cember 30 and on May 20 mydaughterBrenda died.

“She had an underactive thy-roid and she had the signs butshewouldn’t go to the doctors.

“She had a heart attack andpassed away. She was 50, whichis no agewhatsoever.

“It has been a weird year forme, its hard to comprehend thatthey are not still here.

“For a long time I still ex-pectedTony towalk through thedoor.”

An animal lover, Tony hadtwo horses, Rosie and Mag-gie, and it was while he was outin a van with his friends to gethay for his animals, that he col-lapsed.

“It was a big shock,” Berylsays. “I got a call saying Tonywas in hospital after collapsing.

“I ran to the hospital but hewas unconscious. I never reallyspoke to himagain.”

Last autumn Beryl recieved aletter fromSt John’sAmbulanceabout Tony’s Order of St Johnaward.

“The ceremony was in No-vember,” she remembered. “Iwent with Tony’s sister, it waslovely.

“There were a lot of people

www.lep.co.uk Thursday, January 5, 2017LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

SPECIAL REPORT

Bereavedfamiliesarehavingthecourage toOur“Lancashire:Giving thegiftof life”appeallaunched last Januaryhasachievedsuccessas latestigures reveal almost29,000people in thecountyhave joined theorgandonor register in the lastyear.Today,AASMADAYandMICHELLEBLADEtalk to the familiesof twopeopleposthumouslyhonoured for saving lives throughorgandonation.

HUNDREDS of familiesattended regionalceremonies across theUK to see their loved onesposthumously honoured forsaving lives through organdonation.

The deceased peoplereceived the Orderof St John Award forOrgan Donation run inconjunction with NHSBlood and Transplantwhich was given to their

Donors’

Mumanddad: ‘Webutwe thinkorganA COUPLE who lost theirson in a road smash haverevealed how they made thedecision to donate his organsafter death as they knew hehad signed up to be an organdonor.

Nigel Hardman, 48, whogrew up in Penworthambut was living in the NewHall Lane area, was killedin a horriic road collision inwhich a 51-year-old womandriving the other car alsodied.

His parents, Edwin andDorothy Hardman, of Pad-way, Penwortham say thatalthough they were devas-tated at losing their son, theywanted to donate his organsto save others and meet hiswishes.

Mum Dorothy, 85, says:“We still don’t really knowexactly what happenedbut Nigel was on the Pen-wortham lyover on his wayto see us when the crash hap-pened on December 9, 2015.

“He was on a bend andfor some reason, he wentstraight on and crashed intoa lady’s car and sadly shedied as well.

“Nigel had not been wellfor a few days before hisdeath and said he had an up-set stomach.

“I had called him on the

telephone that morning atabout 8:30am and he toldme he just needed to feed hiscat and then he would cometo our home.

“The accident happenedjust after 10am and we didnot find out what had hap-pened until after lunch.

“A pol i cewoman ap-peared at our door and told

Nigel Hardman

THE grieving widow of a gran-dad-of-20 has proudly acceptedan award on his behalf after hedonated his organs to save lives.

Beryl Swales, 73, collectedher late husband Tony’s specialaward fromSt JohnAmbulance.

Tony, 68, donated his liver,eyes and skin tissue after hediedfromabrain haemorrhage.

Beryl, of Pinfold Lane, Lan-caster, says: “There are so manypeople needing organs and it’sturning a death into somethingpositive.

“It’s just knowing that allthesepeople around the countryhave beneited fromhis death.

“Hehas givenhopeand life tosomeone else. It kind of softensthe blow.”

Beryls said she and Tony haddiscussed organ donation andhe told her it was something he

Wife:‘Hehasgivenhopeandlifetosomeoneelse.Itkindofsoftenstheblow’

there who had loved ones thathad given their organs.

“When people donate theirorgans they know they are help-ing somebody live - they are giv-ing someone a big present butwillingly. It is a nice thing to do.”

Beryl and Tony met in TheMillstone pub in the 1980s andweremarried for 29 years.

The couple have 20 grand-children and five great-grand-children.

“It’s lonely now,” Beryl said.“Tony did a lot for me. But al-though you know you have lostyour loved one, its a wonderfulfeeling to know that they aregoing to help people with dona-tions.

“It lifts your spirits. Someoneis surviving and Tony lives on inother people, or at least a part ofhimdoes,” addedBeryl.

Beryl Swales with her Order of St John Tony and Beryl in happier times

7Thursday, January 5, 2017 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

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awardedhonours forsave livesof strangers

families and loved ones ontheir behalf.

The awards recognise the1,364 people who donatedtheir organs after death lastyear leading to thousandsof lives being saved ortransformed.

During 2015/16, thanksto the generosity of thesedonors and the support oftheir families, the numberof deceased donors went upfrom 1,282 to 1,364 - a rise

of six per cent. However,there are still around 6,500people on the UK transplantwaiting list and around threepeople die every day in needof an organ.

NHS Blood and Transplantis calling for people to beinspired by the actions ofthese donors.

Barrie Davies, chairmanof the local County Priorygroup of the Order of St John,says: “We’re delighted to

be able to work with NHSBlood and Transplant to runthe Organ Donor Awards fora fourth year and to meetthe inspirational familiesattending the ceremony.

“Organ donation canclearly save lives and it is agenuine privilege to be ableto say thank you to thesefamilies whose loved oneshave already donated theirorgans to assist others,” headded.

“In 2016, around threepeople died every day dueto the shortage of organdonors.

“We hope the exampleset by the organ donorswhose lives we honouredencourages many others tojoin the NHS Organ DonorRegister.”

Sally Johnson, directorof organ donation andtransplantation at NHS Bloodand Transplant, says: “The

sense of pride families feelat these ceremonies is trulyinspirational.

“Everyone I have spoken tois glad that their relative wasable to be an organ donor.

“Families take greatcomfort from knowing thattheir loved one went on tosave and improve the lives ofdesperately ill people.

“Transplant patients tellus that organ donors andtheir families are heroes.

“This award is a chancefor us all to recognise theirbravery and generosity.

“We hope these awardswill inspire other people totell their families they wantto be an organ donor andthen register their decisionat www.organdonation.nhs.uk.”l To join the NHS OrganDonor Register, visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call:0300 123 2323.

lovedonesattendceremonies to receiveOrderofSt John

are still devastatedbyhisdeathdonation isawonderful thing’

Dorothy and Edwin Hardman receive the Order of St John after donating Nigel’s organs

NEIL CROSS

us there had been a terribleaccident.”

Dorothy said Nigel had suf-fered health problems andhad been treated for a heartaneurysm a few years previ-ously and had also suffered amini stroke.

He was taken to hospitalwith a bleed on the brain anda fractured pelvis and was put

into an induced coma. He dieda couple of days later.

Dorothy says: “Organ do-nation was discussed with usat the hospital.

“Nigel had signed up to bean organ donor and we knewhe had a donor card.”

Dorothy and Edwin havesince been told Nigel’s kid-neys and liver were donated to

save the lives of three people.Dorothy says: “It was up-

setting we also felt proud thatthis is Nigel’s legacy afterdeath and are glad other peo-ple are alive due to his organs.

“We would rather haveNigel and are still devastatedby his death but we think or-gan donation is a wonderfulthing.”

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ANANGUISHED couple todaymade an emotional plea: “Helpus have a baby.”Claire and Neil Martin, who

live in Leyland, near Preston,dreamed of having a child as thenext stage of their life together.

However, whenn things didn’thappen for themm naturally,they soughtmedicaal advice andwere devastated too be told thattheir only chancee of having ababy together was tthrough IVFusing donor eggs.Heartbreakinggly, due to a

dire shortage of eegg donors atthe clinic they arre referred to,the couple havee been told they

face a massive four year waitfor an egg donor on the NHSwaiting list. As people finishexchanging Easter eggs to sym-bolise new life, the EveningPost launches its series “Childof our dreams” to raise aware-ness of egg donation and en-courage more people to thinkabout helping childless cou-ples.

Claire, 36, today said: “Weare desperate to have a childtogether and know we need amiracle. There are hundredsof couples in the same boatas us and it is a heartbreakingfeeling and you feel like you’rein limbo. We would love it ifsomeone came forwwrward willingto donate eggs to us so we canhave a baby.”

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TO THE LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

Starts page 21Starts page 21

21

Tuesday, March 29, 2016 www.lep.co.uk

Lancashire evening Post

KUKRI, the Lancashire-basedprovider of quality bespokesportswear to athletes and teams,has returned to proit in a remark-able success that has taken lessthan 18 months.The company – which is part ofJD Sports Fashion plc – had beenloss making in recent years.In 2015 the brand repositioneditself in the market and raisedservice levels to a record high.The result sees Kukri return to

proit. Andrew Ronnie, group ex-ecutive chairman of Kukri Sportssaid: “It’s been a strong year forKukri, having followed a robuststrategy that has been implement-ed successfully by the manage-ment team.“Our service levels are at an all-time high which has instilled con-idence in the brand and played asigniicant part in the recent suc-cess.“The future of Kukri is buoyant

and I’m delighted that the hardwork of the team has achievedsuch outstanding results.”Kukri provides sportswear andkits for over 100 sports; it was theOfficial Sportswear Partner forTeam England at 2014 Common-wealth Games and has been theOficial Kit supplier to LancashireCounty Cricket Club since 2007.The Tonga RFU team could beseen wearing Kukri at the recentRugbyWorld Cup.

The international sportswearmanufacturer also providessportswear to some of the bestsports schools and universitiesin the country, including Lough-borough University and MillieldSchool in Somerset.Formed in 1999, Kukri partnerswith thousands of teams, schoolsand universities across the globe.I t i s ba sed in Br i e r l e yRoad,Walton Summit, near Pres-ton.

Countysportswearirmback inproit

housing

inside

NorthsouthgapinaffordabilityThe gap in the prices of homes betweenthe north and the south of the countryhas widened againPage 25

Step into lightLancashire’screative agencieshave been urged tostep in to one of thecounty’s brightestspotlights.Page 22

KeepmorecashinyournesteggThinking of an easter break? We’ve gottips to make your money go furtherPage 27

creative

personalinance

information

businessagendaEssential guide on new deals, planningapplications, business events andnetworking, and legal updatesReturns next week

in association with James Brearley & Sons, stockbrokers and investment managers

your voiceforLancashire

lep weekp wbusinessBAEjobssecuredin£300mairdeal

BAE Systems has been awardedthree servicing contracts worthalmost £300million to support theUK’s leet of Hawk fast jet traineraircraft until 2020.The contracts sustainmore than600 jobs with BAE Systems andBabcock in Lancashire, NorthWales, North and East Yorkshire,and Cornwall.Under the agreements, the twoorganisations will provide a rangeof services to the Royal Navy andRoyal Air Force.Staff will support Hawk opera-tions at RAF Valley in Anglesey,North Wales, RAF Leeming inNorth Yorkshire and Royal NavalAir Station (RNAS) Culdrose inCornwall.The servicing contracts coveraircraft maintenance, fleet man-agement and technical and engi-neering support for the jets.The sub-assemblies of everynew Hawk are built at BAE’sBrough site before being shippedto Warton where they are assem-bled with the rest of the aircraft.The wings are built at Samles-bury and then sent to Warton forinal assembly and light testing.At least 20 jobs are safeguardedatWarton, with the contracts seenas a major show of conidence inSystems and the Hawk.

Peter Jones, head of Hawk UKavailability at BAE Systems said:“These contracts will allow us to

continue to deliver end-to-endservice for our Hawk customers.Currently we ensure that 95 percent of the Hawk leet is availableat any one time and we are coni-dent in our ability to continue todeliver this.“Together with our service de-livery partner, Babcock, we havemanaged to improve the level of

support service offered to ourcustomers and reduce the costs oftheir Hawk leet. These contractawards demonstrate the excel-lent relationship between BAESystems and the UK Ministry ofDefence.”Hawk is the advanced jet trainerwhich prepares the Royal Navyand RAF’s next generation of pi-

lots for fast jets like the Euroight-er Typhoon and the F-35.Hawk has been used to trainmore than 20,000 pilots in airforces across the world with morethan 1,000 Hawks now deliveredor on order. It is used by the RedArrows display team.Around 10,000 people work forBAE Systems in Lancashire.

DefencegiantgetsHawksupport contractsBy david [email protected]@LEpdavidnoWELL

coNfideNce: The Hawk trainer jet is admired worldwide

8 www.lep.co.uk Tuesday, March 29, 2016LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

“FIRST comes love, thencomes marriage, thencomes little baby in ababy carriage.”

It may just be a childhoodplayground song, but for manycouples, this is the naturalorder they assume their liveswill take when they ind theirperfect partner.

Claire and Neil Martin, ofCrawford Avenue, Leyland,both knew they wanted chil-dren and thought that it wouldjust happen when they felt thetime was right.

The thought that it might bea struggle did not really occurto them as like many, theyassumed it would be the mostnatural thing in the world.

The couple, who have beentogether for 10 years and mar-ried for six, both work for atravel companyin Euxton,near Chorleywhere Claire,36, worksin customerservices andNeil works onthe transportside.

Claireexplains:“Not beingable to havechildren is notsomething youthink about -until it affectsyou.

“Having children is some-thing we both knew we wantedbut irst we wanted to get ahouse together and get settled.

“Once we got married, wethought having a baby was thenatural next stage.”

After a year of trying for ababy, Claire and Neil began tosuspect something wasn’t rightand went to the doctors.

After undergoing tests andinvestigations, specialists toldthe devastated couple therewas a problem with Claire’seggs and their only chance ofhaving a baby together wasthrough IVF using donor eggs.

Claire explains: “Normally,a woman’s body producesthe better quality eggs andreleases them every month.

“But my body was not doingthat. It was just putting anyeggs out and sometimes, theydidn’t think there were any

eggs coming out at all.“Doctors told us that there

was next to no chance of usconceiving naturally.

“When all you’ve everwanted is to have children, tobe given that news is heart-breaking.”

Claire says from as farback as she can remember,she always knew she wantedto be a mum some day.

And Neil, who is an onlychild, grew up surrounded bycousins so family was alwaysimportant to him.

Neil, 37, says: “I am anonly child but my mum hadseven brothers and sistersand my father was one offour, so I have got lots ofcousins.

“Family is very importantto myself and Claire and we

both desper-ately wanthildren if wean.“When you

ear tales ofwomen who

ave becomeregnant byccident or

without reallyrying, it cane very dif-

icult.“It is

ard whenou wantomething

so muchwhen for other people it is anatural thing that they havenot really planned or thoughtabout.”

Claire says: “My mum hasa twin brother and an olderset of twins and an older sis-ter so is one of ive children.

“From being young, I havebeen with all my cousins andwe are a close family withlots of aunties, uncles andcousins.

“I always took the moth-erly role and did babysittingand always knew that’s whatI wanted for the future.

“I wanted to do what mymum has done for us andhave that for my own chil-dren.”

Claire and Neil were re-ferred to the Hewitt FertilityCentre at Liverpool Wom-en’s Hospital where they hadtests and counselling.

Claire’s sister, who has adaughter and a son, offeredto be an egg donor for hersister and the IVF cycle tookplace in September last year.

Unfortunately, it wasunsuccessful.

Claire explains: “We wentall the way through the IVFcycle and they collected eggs,fertilised them and thenimplanted them - but it justdidn’t work.

“It was a very dificult timeas you go through all thatconvinced it will work andthen you are left devastated.

“Doctors can’t pinpointexactly why the IVF didn’twork but say the eggs justweren’t as good quality asthey needed.

“The hospital are nowkeen for us to have IVF usinga donor from outside as theythink it will stand a betterchance of working.

“However, at the momentat the centre, there is a four

year wait for donor eggs onthe NHS.”

The clinic recommendcouples cut down their wait-ing time by advertising foran anonymous donor of theirown if they feel this is thebest route for them.

Neil says: “We have lookedat private clinics and havingthe treatment privately andproviding there is no physicalbarrier, if you can pay, youcan have treatment usingdonor eggs.

“But the cost is thousands.You can’t put a price on hav-ing a family and if there wasa guarantee of success, wewould ind a way.

“However, there is noguarantee.”

Claire admits she some-times feels responsible andalthough it is her “fault”although Neil constantlyreassures her that they areboth in it together.

Claire explains: “When

Thehardestpart iswaitingstuck in limboandweknow

achca

hwhpawtrbi

hyoso

so

CHILDof our

DREAMS

Ashortage ineggdonorsmeanssomecouples strugglingwith fertility issues faceagonisingwaits .Today,on theirstdayofour series ‘Childofourdreams’,AASMADAYtalks toClaireandNeilMartinwhoaredesperate foraneggdonor so theycanhave thehopeofachild together.

there is something wrongwith your eggs, there is noth-ing doctors can do to ix that,so you feel like it is your faultthe IVF is not working.

“I know there is nothing Icould have changed, but it isstill heartbreaking.

“When I see other peoplewith babies and children, asmuch as I am over the moonfor them and happy for them,there is also a part of me thatwishes it was my baby.

“I have a niece andnephew and love being anaunty. But I still long to havemy own children.

“Our family network havebeen very supportive throughall this and their help hasbeen invaluable.

“The hardest part is thewaiting. We are just stuck inlimbo waiting for donor eggs.

“We are desperate to havea child together and know weneed a miracle.”

The couple get two rounds

of IVF on the NHS and asthey have already had one,they know this is their lastchance.

They are now appeal-ing for women to considerbecoming an egg donor tohelp them - or other couplesfacing the same plight.

Claire says: “From a selishpoint of view, we want donoreggs so we can have a baby.

“But we know what otherpeople are going through soif it does not work out for usand a donor can help othersin the same position, thatwould be great too.”

Neil says: “We want to raiseawareness of the need forcouples like us who long to beparents but can’t have childrenwithout an egg donor.

“We moved to the housewe are living in last year andwe bought it with startinga family in mind as it is in anice area with great schoolsnearby.

Someofthereasonswhywomenneedaneggdonortohaveababyincludeolderwomen,youngerwomenwhohavereachedanearlymenopause,womenwhohavehadunsuccessful IVFtreatmentduetopooreggorovarianresponse,womenbornwithoutovariesandthosewhohavehadtheirovariesdamagedthroughchemotherapy.AndrewDrakeley,consultantinfertil-ityatTheHewitFertilityCentrebasedatLiverpoolWomen’sHospital,says:“Asaspecialistcentre,weatractallthesepatientsandmoresothereisarealneedformoreeggdonors.“Somecouplesmanagetoindtheirowndonorand it isoftensomeonetheyknowlikeasister, relativeorworkacquaintance.“If this is thecase, thewaitingtimeisabout threetofourweekstodoallthetesting,screeningandcounsel-ling.“Thecoupleor individual lookingforaneggdonorcanalsoadvertise forananonymousdonor.“Wegivethemalaminatedcardwithanadvertonwithareferencethatlinkstothem.“Theycanplacethis ina localnewspaperorusesomeotherformofadvertising.“Onewomanfamouslyputanadvert

DEMAND FOR EGG DONORS HAS BECOME A LOT HIGHER

appealingforaneggdonoronthesideofaLondonbus.Thatstorymadethenationalnewsandshefoundaneggdonor.“Ifacoupleareable tomaketheirownatemptstoindadonor, thewaitingtimecanbeshorter.“However, if they justwaitonourNHSwaiting list, thecurrentwaitingtime isabout threetofouryears.”GillHathaway, fertilitysister,

adds: “Ourwaiting list forwomenwaitingforaltruisticdonors iscurrently treatingwomenwhohavebeenonthewaiting listsince2012.”AndrewandGill saythedemandfordonorshasbecomea lothigherasmorepeoplehavebecomeawarethetechnique isavailable.Gill says: “I thinkpeopleprobablyacceptedchildlessness indays

gonebyastherewasnootheroptionorwentfortheadoptionroute.“Butnow,becauseofartiicial re-productivetechniques improvingsomuchanddonationbecomingmainstream,thedemand isgreater.“Forcouplesneedingeggdona-tion, it isanemotionalroller-coasteranda lotof themaredesperateand it is their lastcall.”

SPECIALISTS: Fertility sister Gill Hathaway and consultant Andrew Drakeley

9Tuesday, March 29, 2016 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

Newschoolnurse textservice foryoungstersCHILDREN and young peo-ple can now conveniently andconfidentially contact theirschool nurse electronically viaLancashire Care NHS Foun-dation Trust’s School NurseMessaging Service.

The new service caters forchildren and young peoplewho increasingly use handheldmobile devices.

The new messaging servicealso gives them the opportu-nity to contact a nurse by SMStext message and can be usedoutside school hours.

Lorraine Chadwick, serviceintegration manager at Lan-cashire Care NHS FoundationTrust, said: “There are somehealth issues that young peo-ple find embarrassing to talkto nurses face-to-face about.

“The School Nurse Mes-saging Service deals with thisproblem in a convenient, con-idential and non-invasive way.

“It’s a contemporary solu-tion that is resulting in moreand more young people con-tacting school nurses withtheir concerns.”

foradonorwe’rewe needamiracle

“Everything we haveworked towards is having afamily of our own.

“We are now down to ourinal shot and just hope wecan ind someone willing tohelp us achieve our dream ofa baby.”

l IF you a woman agedbetween 21 and 35 andpreferably have already had

children and would like toreceive more informationregarding egg donation, callthe Ovum Donation Co-ordinator at LiverpoolWomen’s Hospital on 0151702 4212.

If you want to help Claireand Neil by being a potentialegg donor, quote reference:590R

TheNationalGameteDonationTrust isaregisteredcharitycoveringtheUKwhichsupportspeoplewhoare lookingforeggandspermdonorsandraiseawarenessof theneedforgam-ete (eggandsperm)donation.Pip Morris,donorrecruitmentmanager ,says: “Fouryearsdoessoundanunusually longtimetowait foraneggdonor.“Therearesomeclinics in theUK

whohavemoreeggdonorsthanrecipients.“If this coupleareundertheNHS,it ispossible toget theirNHScontract transferredtoanotherclinic.“Therewill alwaysbeaneedfordonorsbecauseat themoment,thedemandoutstripsthesupply.“But thereareclinicswhohaverunningverysuccessfulrecruit-mentprogrammeswhichare

bringingdonorsforward.“Wearealsohearingofa lotofre-peateggdonorscomingforwardtohelpothers.“This isaverypostivethingandshowstheyhadagoodexperi-enceat theclinic.“There ismoreofademandforeggandspermdonorsasmorepeoplenowknowthis treatmentisavailable.“Weneedto increaseawareness

aboutdonationasa lotofpeoplearenotawaretheycanhelppeople in thisway.“Thingsarechangingandthereareeggandspermdonorsavail-able.“Ifpeoplearehavingtroublewiththeir localclinic, theycancontactus foradvice.”lCall theNationalGameteDona-tionTruston:08452269193orvisit:www.ngdt.co.uk

SUPPORT FROM NATIONAL GAMETE DONATION TRUST

lTOMORROW: WE TALK TO A

LANCASHIRE MUM ABOUT WHY SHE

WANTED TO DONATE HER EGGS TO

HELP OTHERS AND FIND OUT WHAT

THE PROCESS INVOLVES

BABY BATTLE: Claire and Neil Martin

6 www.lep.co.uk Wednesday, March 30, 2016LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

‘Tobeable togive thegift

SARAH Fraser lovesher five children andknows she is lucky asbecoming a mum came

so easily to her.When she and husband

Gareth decided their familywas deinitely complete afterive children, Sarah admits herthoughts turned to those whoweren’t quite so fortunate.Sarah, 33, who lives in

Fulwood, Preston and haschildren Jordain, 16, Joshua,11, Jaimie, 10, Nikita, eightand Nieve, six, explains: “I’vebeen very lucky as I had ivepregnancies and have ivehealthy children.“Although I also love having

my own space and going to

work and having my own life,I would not be without mykids and they mean the worldto me.“I started feeling guilty

when I heard of a lot of peoplestruggling to have children.“I saw friends struggle and

read things in the paper aboutpeople desperate to havechildren but couldn’t havethem.“It made me feel guilty as

children came so easily to me.“WhenGareth and I

decided we didn’t want anymore children of our own, Ifelt selish my eggs were goingto waste every month.”Sarah, a funeral arranger

at HWWhalley and Sons inPreston, was 16 when she hadher irst son Jordain.

Although he wasn’tplanned, Sarah says shecouldn’t be happierfate worked the wayit did.

She explains:“I was 16 andnearly fourmonthspregnantwhen I found

out I was expecting Jordain.“I was very naive. I was a

good girl and things like thatdidn’t happen to me.“My family were very

supportive and havecontinued to be so.“Jordain was certainly not a

mistake but an early gift.“He has turned into a well

rounded lovely young man.”Sarah met Gareth when she

was 18 and although Jordain isstill involved with his naturaldad, Gareth became a step-dad to him too.The couple got engaged a

few years later and set a datefor the wedding.However, Sarah then

became unexpectedlypregnant and gave birth to sonJoshua three months beforetheir wedding at the ageof 21.Sarah andGareth married

at Our Lady and St Patrick’sChurch inWalton-le-Dalenear Preston and when Sarahwas 23, they had their sonJaime.

Sarah says: “When itcame to having Jaime,

there was an elementof ‘if it happens, ithappens.’

“Jaime was myirst prematurechild as hewas born at29 weeks

CHILDof our

DREAMS

Donatingeggs to someonewho longs tobecomeaparentcouldgive themthe fairytaleissueofdonation tohelp thosebattling infertility,AASMADAYtalks toaPrestonmum

lTOMORROW:WE LOOK AT SPERM DONATION AND TALK TO A MAN WHO HAS HELPED TO

weighing 2lbs 10oz.“He was born healthy and

well and was just smaller.”Sarah admits after three

boys, she fancied having adaughter, so when shebecame pregnant again, shekept her ingers crossed fora girl.At the age of 25, she gave

birth to Nikita born at 33weeks weighing 4lbs 3oz.

After a while, Sarahexperienced a wave ofthinking it would be niceto have a little sister forNikita and at the ageof 26, she had Nieve bornat 28 weeks weighing 2lb15oz.After being sure she

didn’t want any more

children of her own, Sarahbegan contemplating howshe could help others lessfortunate and started lookinginto egg donation.Sarah recalls: “I can’t

pinpoint the exact moment Idecided I wanted to donateeggs but it seemed a logicalthing to investigate to helpother people.“We talked about it as a

couple andGareth was verysupportive.“I discovered I could either

be an anonymous egg donoror be a known egg donor to afamily.“I felt for me personally,

although I didn’t want anyinvolvement afterwards, Iwanted to know whomy eggs

were going to.”Sarah went on an online

forum where womenwere appealing for eggdonors.She found a couple whose

nearest fertility clinic was inLeicester and spoke to theclinic and the couple.Sarah says: “I told them

about myself and they wantedto know what I looked like andmy genetic background.“I had to carry out around

10 to 12 visits to Leicester anddidn’t meet the couple untilthe very end.“The treatment for egg

donation was basically IVFtreatment until the eggcollection stage and I had toinject myself with hormone

HELPING HAND:Sarah Fraser, mum-of-ive, has donatedher eggs to helppeople who can’thave childrenPhoto Neil Cross

FAMILY: Sarah Fraser’s ive children. After having ive healthy children of her own, Sarah decidothers in need

7Wednesday, March 30, 2016 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

ofachild is soworthwhile’ending theydreamof.Today, aspartofour series“Childofourdreams” lookingat theaboutwhyshechose todonatehereggs.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EGG DONATION

EVERYday,womenupanddownthecountrylearnthedevastatingnewstheyhaveverylitlechanceofhavingababywithout thehelpofdonoreggs.Therearemanyreasonswhysomeonemightneedaneggdonor.Thefemalemay:•Havesuferedaprematuremenopause•Havereducedovarianreserve•Neverhavebeenable toproduceeggs•Have lost theuseofherovariesduetodisease,surgeryorcancertreatment•Carry inheritedgeneticdiseasesandwanttousedonatedeggssoasnot topassthediseaseontotheirchildren.Thosewhohavereceivedtheheartbreakingnewstheywon’tbeable toconceivewiththeirowneggsandthenbravelydecidetotakethenextstepsareoftenfacedwithyetanotherdilemma: there isn’taneggdonoravailableforthemduetoashortageofeggdonors.Tomeetcurrentdemands,morethan1,200eggdonorsareneededeveryyearfromallnationalities, religionsandcultures

CRITERIA:

Tobecomeaneggdonoryoumust:•Beagedbetween18and35•BewithinahealthyweightrangeforyourheightwithaBMIunder30•Bewillingtobescreenedforarangeofmedicalconditions, includingsexuallytransmited infections.•Befreefromseriousmedicaldisability•Bewillingtohaveahealthydietand lifestyle•Knoworbeable toindoutaboutyourimmediate familymedicalhistory•Nothaveanyhereditarydisorderswithinyourfamily

THE PROCEDURE

•Eggdonation involvescommitment.Thereare injectionsfor10to12days,ultrasoundscansandbloodtests•Asimpleprocedure isusedtocollect theeggs -afterafewhoursrestyoucan leave•Counselling isadvisedtodiscussthe implica-tionsofdonatingeggsorsperm•Eggdonorsarematchedtoarecipientbyheight,weight,hairandeyecolourandbloodgroup

•Anychildbornfromdonatedeggsorspermmayatage18may requestandbegivenidentifying informationabouttheirdonor•TheHumanFertilisationandEmbryologyAuthorityhasagreedaset levelofcom-pensationforeggdonorstocoverall travelcosts, lossofearningsandoutofpocketexpenses incurred–this is£750

EGG SHARING

IfyouneedIVFtreatmentyourself for fac-torsunrelatedtofemaleeggquality, thereisawaytoreceivesigniicantlydiscountedprivatefertility treatment:eggsharing.Byagreeingtoshareyoureggswithwomenwhoneedthem,notonlydoyoureceivecheaperfertility treatmentyourselfbutyouwill alsobecomeaneggdonor.Bytakingpart in theeggsharingscheme,youmustmeetthekeyeggdonorcriteriaandyour legalparenthoodstatuswillbethesameasothereggdonors.YourIVFtreatmentcyclewillgoaheadasatypical IVFcycleexceptaroundhalfofyoureggswillbekept fortreatment foryouand

theotherhalfwill begiventoyourmatchedrecipient.

COMPENSATION

Eggdonorscanreceivecompensationofupto£750foreacheggdonationtreatmentcycle.Thispayment is toreasonablycoveranyinancial lossesyoumightencounter inconnectionwithyourdonation.Youmightalsobeable toclaimanexcesstocoverhigherexpensessuchastravel,accommodationandchildcare.Theamountsclinicsgiveandatwhichstageduringthedonationprocessdoesvarysoalwayscheckwithyourclinicbeforeyoustartyoureggdonationcycle.

SUPPORT

TheNationalGameteDonationTrust isaregisteredcharitycoveringtheUKwhichsupportspeoplewhoare lookingforeggandspermdonorsandraiseawarenessof theneedforgamete(eggandsperm)donation.Call themon:08452269193orvisit:www.ngdt.co.uk

CREATE 10 FAMILIES

drugs.“Although they managed to

collect 12 eggs and the couplehad two or three attempts atIVF, unfortunately none of themworked.“However, a year later, they

did get to the top of the NHSwaiting list for donor eggs andhad twins and named one ofthem after me even though itwasn’t with my eggs that theywere successful.“I thought this was a lovely

thing to do.”Sarah waited about a year and

then felt the need to try to helpsomeone else by donating hereggs.This time the couple were

closer to home as they lived inManchester and the clinic had a

different policy and Sarah metthem irst.She says: “The lady was a bit

older at about 40 so her chancesof success were lowered.“She was a lovely woman

and we collected around eight to10 eggs but again, it didn’twork.“You feel really gutted for

the couple when the treatmentdoesn’t work as you know howmuch they are pinning theirhopes on it.“However, if this woman had

waited on the NHS waiting list,she would have gone past the ageto meet the criteria so at least shefelt like she had tried.”Although Sarah’s donated

eggs didn’t achieve a successfulpregnancy, she is glad shedid it.However, she has decided her

last attempt was her inal one.She explains: “It is quite an

invasive treatment and takes a lotof time.“I feel disappointed I wasn’t

able to donate eggs whichresulted in a baby for someone.“I really wanted to give that gift

to someone, but at least I triedand gave them a chance theymight not have had.“People often take having

children for granted and I feltlucky to have mine and eggdonation seemed the right thingto do.“A lot of people take it for

granted they will meet someone,

fall in love, get married and havea baby.“But unfortunately, it doesn’t

work out like that for everyone.“I am probably in the minority,

but to me personally, an eggis just a cell that I didn’t needmyself.“If we can do things like organ

donation, I felt why shouldn’t Idonate my eggs to help someone?“Having children is what we

were designed as human beingsto do.“For me, it just happened

without planning or thinkingabout it. In that sense, I was verylucky.“I cannot even imagine not

having the things we take forgranted.“It must be the most crushing

feeling in the world when youwant a child so badly but can’thave one.“I certainly empathise with

anyone who is in the position ofneeding an egg donor.“With me, the couples paid

my expenses which covered mypetrol money to get to the clinic.“It certainly wasn’t for proit,

but it covered my expenses.“If anybody is considering

donating their eggs, I wouldencourage them to look intoit.“To be able to give the gift of

the chance of a child to someoneis very worthwhile and certainlyworth any travel or temporarydiscomfort.”

ded to donate her eggs to help

12 www.lep.co.uk Thursday, March 31, 2016LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

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Giving couplesofexperiencing

DAVID feels a warmand contented glowwhenever he consid-ers he has helped

create 10 families by donat-ing sperm with a total of 13children.

Theseare familieswhomightneverhaveexperi-enced the joyofparent-hood if itwasn’t forpeoplelikeDavidwilling todonatesperm.

David, 31, fromLanca-shire,irstdecided todo-nate spermabout sixyearsagoaterhearing theplightof acoupleheknewwhowerestruggling toconceive.

David recalls: “Inmyhead, Iknewthis coupleweregoing tomakegreatparentsbut theyweren’t go-ing tobeable toachieve thatwithoutassistance.

“I realised thereweremanyotherpeople in simi-lar situationswhowouldmake terriicparents, butneeded intervention tomake ithappen.”

David readnewsreportsabouthowtherewasashortageofmenwilling tobespermdonors followingachange in the law.

Since2005, all egg, spermandembryodonors in theUKmustagree tobe identii-able toanypersonconceivedfromtheirdonation.

Davidwanted tohelppeo-plebecomeparentsandaterhearingaboutCAREFertil-ity inManchester throughafriend,madeenquiriesaboutbecomingadonorandde-cided togoahead.

Donationsaremadeatleastonceaweekuntil suf-icient spermhasbeencol-lectedand frozen.

David,whoworks inanoiceand ispost graduate

educated, says: “Theactualdonations takeacoupleofmonths togiveas theyre-quireacertainvolumeof thesamples.

“Youhave toabstain fromsexual activity for threedaysbeforeeachdonationand ittakes 10 to 12 separatedona-tionsbefore theclinichas theamount itneeds.

“Becauseof therulingsaroundquarantine, theythenquarantine thesamplesfor sixmonthsas therearecertainbloodborneviruseswhichmay take this long toshow.

“Ihad togivepersonalinformationaboutmyselfsuchashair colour, eyecol-our,heightandethnicity sotheycouldmatchmyspermtopeople so thechildwouldlook like them.

“I alsowroteapenpor-trait, a leter toanychildrenwhomaybeconceived, sotheycouldpotentially re-quest informationaboutmeonce theyreach 18.”

Atercompletinghisspermdonation,David theo-reticallydidn’tneed todo-nateagain.

However,hewascalled

backacoupleof years laterasoneof the familieswhosuc-cessfullyhadachildusinghisdonationwantedanother

Somecouplesdiscover theycannothaveachild togetheraspartofourseries“Childofourdreams”AASMADAYcreate10familiesbydonatingsperm.

edmqs

sbtta

atfcws

CHILDof our

DREAMS

LEGAL PARENTHOOD

•AllUK-basedclinics licensedbytheHumanFertilisationandEmbryologyAuthority (HFEA)mustconformtostrictmedical,legalandethical standards.Bydonatingyourspermthroughone of these clinics,your legalparenthood isas follows:•Youwillnotbethe legalparentofanychildbornasaresultofyour donation•Youwillhaveno legalobligationto anychildbornfrom

your donation•Youwillnotbenamedonthechild’sbirthcertiicate•Youwill not haveanyrightsoverhowthe child willbebroughtup•Youwill not be askedtosupportthe child inancially.•There isn’ta limit assuchonthe numberofchildrenthatcanbeborn from yourdonations.However, amaximumof10familiescanbecreatedfromyour donations.

SUPPORT

THENationalGameteDonationTrust isaregisteredcharitycovering theUKwhich sup-portspeoplewhoare lookingforeggandspermdonorsandraise awareness of theneedforgamete(eggandsperm)donation.Call themon: 0845226 9193orvisit:www.ngdt.co.uk

13Thursday, March 31, 2016 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

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thechanceparenthood

babyandpreferredusing thesamedonor so thechildrenwouldbebiological siblings.

Davidwashappy todo thisanddonatedspermagain.

David says: “Therearenow10 families thathavebeencreated throughmydo-nationswitha total of 13 chil-dren includingasetof twins.

“Ten is themaximumnumberof families that canbecreatedbyoneperson’sdonationsas theywant tolimit thechanceofhalf-brothersandhalf-sistersmeetingeachotherandformingrelationshipsorget-tingmarried.”

However,Davidadmitseven ifhewasable to,hispartnerwouldn’twanthimtodonate spermagain.

Davidexplains: “At thetime Imade thedonations, Iwaswithadiferentpartnerwhowasabsolutelyinewithit all.

without theuseofdonatedsperm.Today,talks toaLancashiremanwhohashelped

“Butmynewpart-ner says she feels abitstrangeabout it andwouldn’twantmetodoit again.

“She is accepting it issomething Idid inmypastand that Idid it tohelppeo-ple.

“I think it is thepoten-tial that ifwehadchildrenourselves, she feels itwouldbesomethingverypersonalbetweenusandmaybeshedoesn’t like the idea that Ihavehelpedcreatechildrenelsewhere.

“But theyarenotmychil-dren.

“Theywerecreatedwithmyspermandhave theirownparentsand families.”

David says somepeopleareputofdonating spermdue to thechanges in lawsur-roundinganonymity.

Potentially, anychildrenconceived fromeggor sperm

donationcanapply to theHumanFertilisationandEm-bryologyAuthority (HFEA)fordetails of theirdonoronce theyreach 18.

Davidsays: “I thinksomepeopleget concerned thesechildrenmight turnupontheirdoorstep in 18yearstime.

“But I think the likelihoodof that is very slim.

“Theirparentsmaynevertell themtheywerecon-ceivedusingdonorspermordonoreggs.”

Davidconfesseshedoesthinkabout thechildrenhehelpedcreateand feelshappyknowing theyareoutthere.

He is alsohopeful that

onedayhemightget tomeetsomeof them-although it isanother 13yearsbefore thatcanpotentiallyhappen.

Davidsays: “Itmakesmehappy toknowthesechil-drenareout there.

“Hopefully theyarehappyandmaking theirparentshappy.

“I amhopingat least someof theparentsdo tell theirchildrenaboutme.

“Somemaychoosenot totell their children theywereconceivedwithdonorspermandthat isineandtheirchoice.

“Personally, I amlooking

forward tomeetingatleast someof them.

“However, Iwentinto thewholeproc-essknowing Imightnevermeetanyofthesechildren.

“Even if Idomeetthem, itwouldnot

beasaparent. I didn’traise themandwill

havenoclaimsonthem.“Iknewthisandwas

happywith this fromthestart.”

David sayshis experi-enceofbeingaspermdo-norwithCAREManchesterhasbeenverypositiveandhewouldencourageany-oneelseconsideringspermdonation to look into it.

Hesays: “If youcandosomething tohelpotherpeopleand it isnot some-thingdiicult todo, thenwhynotdo it?”

GLENN ATKINSON - MEDICAL DIRECTOR

AT CARE FERTILITY MANCHESTER

THEmajorityofspermdonorsusedtobeyoungermendoing itforsparecashsafe in theknowl-edgetheywouldneverknowtheconsequences.However, thechange inanonym-ity lawssince2005,meansall egg,spermandembryodonors in theUKmustagreetobe identiiable toanypersonconceivedfromtheirdonation.Thisdoesdepend if theirparentschosetotell themtheywerecon-ceivedusingadonorand if theydecidetheywanttoknowabouttheirbiologicaldonor.GlennAtkinson,medicaldirectoratCAREFertilityServices inManchester,saystherehasbeenachange inthedemographicofspermdonors.Hesays: “A lotofspermdonorsusedtobestudentsdoing it forbeermoneywhowerehappytheywouldneverknowtheconse-quences.“But thechange in lawimpactedthisandmadesomeof themunwillingtobedonors.“Wehaveseenachange inthedemographicofspermdonors.“It isnowmainlyoldermen inrelationshipsratherthanyoungstudents.”Situationswherespermdonorsareneeded includemenwhoareinfertile, singlewomenandsamesexfemalecouples.MrAtkinsonsays: “Menwith lowspermcountswhomaypreviouslyhaveneededdonorspermcannowbeneit fromICSI -atreat-mentwheresinglespermareinjected intoasingleegg.

“Thismeanswecanefec-tively treat themusingtheirownsperm.”However, there isstill aneedformorespermdonorsandalthoughCAREhas itsownspermbank,patientscanalsobuytheirownspermfromDenmarkforuse intheirclinics.Somepeoplego italoneandbuyspermfromovertheInternet,butthis isrisky.MrAtkinsonsays: “Spermdona-tion iseasierthaneggdonationastodonateeggs,womenbasicallygothroughIVFtreatment.“Witheggdonation,youarealsousuallydonatingtooneperson.“Withspermdonation, there isop-portunity formultipledonations.“Withonespermsample,weusuallyget10strawsofspermsothere is thepotential todonateto10couples.”Tomeetcurrentdemands,around1,000spermdonorsareneededintheUKeveryyearfromallna-tionalities, religionsandcultures,especially thosefromethnicminoritybackgrounds.

MrAtkinsonsaysthecostoffertility treatmentusingspermdonationatCAREasaprivatepa-tientdependsonhowthespermisused.Heexplains: “If it isdonor insemi-nation, thecost isaround£1,400.“IVFusingdonorspermcostsbetween£4,000and£5,000.“Thecostof IVFtreatmentwitheggdonation isbetween£5,500and£8,500foracycleof IVF.”AndrewDrakeley,consultant infertilityatTheHewitFertil-ityCentrebasedatLiverpoolWomen’sHospital, saysthe lawchangehasnotbeenaround longenoughtoknowthenumbersofchildrenwhowill seektheirbiologicaldonor.Hesays: “The lawchanged in linewithadoption lawstogivepeopletheright toknowtheirbiologicalparents.“But thatassumesthechildknowstheywereconceivedusingadonoreggordonorsperm.“Thatright isentirelyuptotheparents. It isnotcompulsory.“Itcanbeadiicultdecisionwhethertotell thechildornotandthis iswhythere iscounselling.“Inthiscountry, theparentwhogivesbirth is the legalmotherand it is theirnameonthebirthcertiicate.“It is important thecouple thinkof thischildastheirownandnotsomebodyelse’schild.“Similarly, thedonorhastosee itashelpingsomeone less fortunateratherthangivingsomethingaway.“Thisminimisesregret.”

MEDICAL DIRECTOR:

Glenn Atkinson

lTOMORROW:WE SPEAK TO THREE WOMEN AT DIFFERENT

STAGES OF THE EGG DONATION JOURNEY

lep.co.uk

+FERTILITY SERIESFor the other articles in our series,see our website

GO ONLINE

6 www.lep.co.uk Friday, April 1, 2016LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

Three stagesofeggdonation,

WAITING FOR A DONOR

“IT can take over yourlife if you don’t take astep back.”When Louise was

just 14, she discovered she hadTurner Syndrome, a geneticcondition where womenhave underdeveloped ovariesresulting in a lack of monthlyperiods and infertility.Louise, now 34, explains:

“I was having a lot of kidneytrouble as a younger and whendoctors carried out bloodtests, after realising I had notstarted periods, they beganinvestigations.“They told me I had Turner

Syndrome caused by a missingchromosome and that this maymean fertility issues.“However, when I was

younger, I was a typicalteenager not really thinkingabout having children.“It was only as I got older

andmet my husband that itbecame an issue.”Louise, a teaching assistant,

does not produce eggs or

have periods. When she mether husband, she told himquite early on that it was areal possibility that she mightnot be able to have childrennaturally.Louise recalls: “It was

quite a dificult conversationto have, but I felt it wasimportant to be honest andupfront.“Luckily, he was very

supportive and continues tobe so.”

Louise had further testsand investigations whichconirmed she would not beable to have children naturallyand needed IVF with an eggdonor.Louise admits: “I had

a rough 18 months whereit affected me quite badlyemotionally. I was bottling upmy emotions and it resulted inmy skin becoming really dryand even the skin onmy eyesstarted peeling.

“It was because I wasgetting myself so stressed outabout everything.“Things became even

harder as my sister had twochildren in the meantime andclose friends had children.“This brought it home that

that was not going to be me.”Louise and her husband

were referred to theHewitt Centre at LiverpoolWomen’s Hospital and beganadvertising for an egg donor

by putting up posters andadverts in newspapers.However, despite having six

initial responses to newspaperads, no egg donor wasforthcoming.A friend initially offered

to donate eggs but then hadpersonal issues of her own todeal with and Louise says theybecame disheartened.She says: “I spoke to a

private clinic who had eggdonors who said they werewilling to take me on if wecould get our NHS fundingtransferred to them.“But we had to go through

the Clinical CommissioningGroup and it took untilFebruary this year to get ananswer and it came back as ano. I realised we were goinground in circles.”Louise and her husband

advertised for an egg donoragain and now feel morepositve as the Hewitt Centrehave told them they will be inthe next group of people to bematched with an egg donor.

Louise says: “Hopefully itwill be imminent althoughwe have not been given anytimescales. The hardest part isthe waiting and not knowing.It has been a long process andyou feel like you are workingso hard to get a donor.“It can take over your life

if you don’t take a step backand put a strain on you as acouple.”

THE EGG DONOR

“THERE are so many peoplewho desperately want childrenbut can’t physically havethem.”Stephanie is about to

donate her eggs for the sixthtime and she knows that herdonations have resulted in atleast two longed-for babies forpeople she doesn’t know, butis glad to have helped.Stephanie, 28, who is in a

same sex relationship, says herpartner has also donated hereggs three times.Stephanie explains: “Two of

my friends donated their eggs

CHILDof our

DREAMS

Ontheinaldayofour series“ChildofOurDreams” lookingat the issueof fertilityand donation,

7Friday, April 1, 2016 www.lep.co.uk LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

giving, receivingandwaitingAASMADAYtalks to threeLancashirewomenatdifferent stagesof theeggdonation journey.

SUPPORT

THENationalGameteDonationTrust isaregisteredcharitycoveringtheUKwhichsupportspeoplewhoarelookingforeggandspermdonorsandraiseawarenessoftheneedforgamete(eggandsperm)donation.Call themon:08452269193orvisit:www.ngdt.co.uk

so they could afford IVF as anegg share IVF treatment.“I looked into it as I thought

it would be great to helppeople in that way.“There are women who

don’t have eggs of theirown for all sorts of reasonsincluding if they have hadcancer treatment which hasdamaged their ovaries.“Last year, I decided I

wanted children of my own sodonated eggs through an eggshare and had IVF treatmentmyself using a sperm donor,but it did not work.“However, I had some eggs

frozen from the egg share soam hoping to try again soon.“I think it is such a shame

that so many people can’t havechildren when they want themsomuch and I am happy tohelp them.”With the law stating that

any children born as a resultof donor eggs or donor spermbeing able to ask for details oftheir biological parent oncethey turn 18, Stephanie knows

there is a possibility that anychildren born from her eggsmay seek her out in the futureand she is ine with this.She says: “I am happy with

the whole concept as I knowmy eggs are going to peoplewho desperately want childrenwhen so many people take itfor granted.“I do not think of any

children born frommy eggsas my children as I have notcared for them or broughtthem up.“I am happy to donate eggs

again in the future but there isa limit of 10 families thatcan be created throughdonations.“I have carried out my

egg donations with CAREFertility inManchester andthey have been great withme and I have not found theprocedure invasive at all.“The only pain is after the

eggs have been collected andit is a bit like period pain for afew hours, but it’s worth it’.”

THE MUM OF AN EGG DONOR

BABY

“THEwoman who donatedeggs to give us our baby is suchan amazing person.”As Kerry gazes down at her

eight-month-old daughterAlice, she is illed with intenselove and emotion.It is the baby she feared she

would never have after shediscovered the only way she

could have a baby was with anegg donor.Kerry, 43, says: “It wasn’t

that I put off having childrenbut I only met my husbandlater in life.“I went to see myGP when I

was 37 or 38 after we had beentrying for a baby for a year andthey discovered I was peri-menopausal.“It was a huge shock

and after more tests andinvestigations, they told methe only way I could have ababy was with IVF using adonor egg.“I was devastated and then

me andmy husband found outthe authority we were underwas not funding IVF cycles.”When Kerry turned 40, she

found out she was entitled toone cycle of IVF on the NHSand went to see her GP whoreferred her to Liverpool’sHewitt Centre.The couple were told there

was a three year waiting listfor egg donors and that theyneeded to advertise.

Kerry recalls: “When wewere referred, I was almost41 and the cut off for IVF onthe NHS was 42 so we knewwe only had a year to ind adonor.“We advertised by putting

up posters on noticeboards insupermarkets and universitiesand doctor’s surgeries.“I had siblings and relatives

who were willing to donate butwere too old.“We did not hear anything

until the August of thefollowing year to say a donorhad come forward.“It was just in time as it

was only a couple of monthsbefore my 42nd birthday.“I had given up hope of

a donor by this point andalthough I was thrilled, I wasalso very nervous as I knewthis was my only shot.”The couple went ahead with

IVF using donor eggs and itwas successful.Kerry says she knows how

lucky they are and she cannever express how grateful she

is to her donor.She says: “Alice is

wonderful and such a joy to usand we want to do everythingto give her the best we can.“I appreciate every moment

with her and we have lots ofcuddles.“Being a parent is the best

thing ever and I can never bethankful enough to the ladywho donated her eggs andmade it possible.“She is just such a selless

and amazing person.”

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