Nairn widow backs NHS Highland Organ Donation campaign

When tragedy struck, Nairn-based Anushka Persad found peace in carrying out her husband Chris's wishes - thanks to simple conversations about organ donation sparked by medical dramas. Their story is a powerful reminder that talking about organ donation today can ease unimaginable decisions tomorrow.

“The decision had been made; I didn’t have to make a decision. I was following his wishes.”

Those are Anushka Persad’s words, barely a year after the death of her husband Chris as a result of a road accident on the outskirts of Inverness. Chris received excellent and swift treatment on the scene and was rushed to Intensive Care at Raigmore Hospital.

“Chris was always lucky. I always thought Chris would be fine,” she said, recalling this as part of the current NHS Highland Organ Donation campaign, of which we are a media partner.

But it was clear from Chris’s injuries that he wouldn’t be leaving hospital alive.

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Because the Nairn couple had loved watching medical dramas like Gray’s Anatomy and House, and had talked about the storylines around difficult topics including organ donation, Anushka knew exactly what Chris’s wishes were.

And so, when the air-traffic controller died, Anushka raised the question of organ donation with the staff at Raigmore, and they took things from there.

Chris was assessed as a good candidate, and one of his kidneys and part of his liver were transplanted into patients on the waiting list. A mitral valve from his heart was removed and has been kept in storage until it is needed.

Anushka was very grateful that the couple had those casual conversations while watching the telly, not imaging that either of them would ever have to carry out the other’s wishes.

As Anushka explained: “No one really wants to have to think about organ donation. They don’t want to think they’ll ever be sick enough to need an organ from someone else, and nobody wants to think that they or anyone they love will ever be in the position to be a donor.”

But the worst did happen, suddenly and unexpectedly. Having had those conversations in a relaxed way, meant that amongst thinking about other things Anushka had to do, like telling the couple’s children that their dad wasn’t coming home, planning his funeral, and informing friends and wider family of his passing, Anushka didn’t have to decide whether Chris’s organs and tissue should be donated to help others live. Chris had made that decision for himself.

But a year on, what impact has Chris having been an organ donor had on Anushka?

“It’s nice to know that there are parts of Chris that are out there and still alive,” she said. “He’s not here but I think he’d have been really chuffed some of his organs could be used, because that’s what he wanted. He wanted to be helpful.”

Since Chris’s death, Anushka has encouraged people to have the conversation about organ donation with their families and friends.

She likens it to having a will. “A will takes away the decision about who gets what from your personal belongings, this takes away the decision about who can have what from your body if you don’t need it anymore. It makes it easier on your family,” she said.

Perhaps uniquely, Anushka and her family have now experienced both sides of organ donation.

She explained: “23 years ago my brother received corneal implants, which gave him back his sight. Bizarrely, I don't think that affected our decision in any way. You don’t set out wanting to change someone else’s life, you just set out to be helpful. But I guess changing lives is the impact. Chris just wanted to be helpful. So make a decision and talk to your family. Let them know what you wish.”

Organ Donation in Scotland brings hope out of tragedy. Although Scotland legally has an opt-out system, your family’s wishes will always take precedence, meaning that your wishes to donate could be overridden. Find out more about Organ Donation here and register your wishes online. Then talk to your family about your wishes.

Myth to bust

Will every effort be made to save my life if I am on the organ donor register?

With every organ donor potentially saving many lives, some people fear that less effort might be made to keep them alive. Clinical lead for organ donation at NHS Highland, Dr John Rae, is emphatic that this is never the case. “Our absolute priority in Intensive Care is to keep people alive,” he said. “Only after every avenue has been explored and exhausted, and options have run out, will the question of organ donation even enter our minds.”

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