‘Her heart is still beating somewhere’

On the first anniversary of the young woman's death, her family take solace that she helped save the lives of others

THE organs donated by a young Milltown woman who died following a two-car collision 12 months ago have helped save the lives of five people.

Samantha Gannon’s parents, Frank and Bridie, are glad they spoke with their 19-year-old daughter about having her organs donated a few short weeks before Samantha was fatally injured in a two-car collision on the Ballygaddy Road in Tuam on the evening of July 13. She passed away on July 16, a year ago this week.

A student nurse, Samantha’s death has left its mark on many people in the local area. She was one of four children alongside sisters Megan and Chloe and brother Alex.

Samantha’s heart, lung, liver, kidneys and pancreas went to five grateful recipients.

Family was in shock mode

“She stood at the patio door and said, ‘when you’re dead, you’re dead, they can even have my eyes’. We had the conversation with Samantha on a Saturday. I’ll never forget it, two or three weeks before the accident,” said Bridie Gannon.

“I remember that’s one of the first things I said in the hospital, that Samantha is an organ donor, not realising what was going to happen.

“Your body is in shock mode. We must have been in shock, I must have been in shock mode to say whatever I said. That should have been the last thing on my mind, but I knew that was what she wanted.”

Some patients are not in a fit enough condition to have their organs donated following a collision, due to injuries they may have suffered, but that was not the case for Samantha.

Members of the Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland (ODTI) met with Frank and Bridie at University Hospital Galway (UHG) once they were made aware that Samantha’s organs were to be donated.

“I do often think, my cousin got a heart transplant 25 years ago and he’s still alive,” said Frank Gannon.

“The technology would have come on an awful lot in that length of time, so the person who got Samantha’s heart could realistically get another 30 to 40 years with the advances in medicine. That’s unreal to think about it that way.”

Frank and Bridie have nothing but praise for the way the ODTI personnel dealt with them. They posted a certificate to the Gannons a few weeks following Samantha’s passing to inform them that her organs had been donated to five people.

“They were very, very professional. They made it so much easier, as easy as it could be. They were just so nice,” offered Bridie.

The Gannon family also received a Thinking of You Memory Box from the nurses in the ICU Department at UHG, which contains locks of Samantha’s hair amongst other things. The Thinking of You Memory Boxes charity is run by the Saolta University Health Care Group of hospitals.

“When they donated the organs, they gave us a beautiful box. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s lovely,” said Bridie.

“I’d hope to do some fundraiser for them. I’m trying to put something in the pipeline and hopefully it’ll take off and just give back what we’ve gotten. Never in my life have I met people so nice.”

Samantha Gannon grew up in Belmont in Milltown. She attended Belmont NS before going to the now former Mercy (Scoil Bhríde) secondary school in Tuam.

She had completed her first of a four-year General Nursing course in ATU Castlebar prior to her passing and was working part-time in the Greenpark Nursing Home in Tuam, a job she loved.

Touching letter from a recipient

“She was a great character. She was vibrant and happy. She used to have great fun in the nursing home with the residents,” said Frank.

“She was absolutely brilliant,” said Bridie. “Everybody speaks well of their kids, and rightly so. She was exceptional, she really was.”

The Gannons received a touching letter in the post ahead of their first Christmas without Samantha a few months ago, from one of the organ recipients.

“It was to say that they think of us every day, and just to get that card was nice,” said Bridie.

“Samantha loved Christmas and was great for surprises, for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, or anything.

“But just to get that card on Christmas Eve, to know they were thinking of us, that was always in my head. That’s only one recipient. It was nice to get. Bittersweet, but nice.”

People aged 18 or older are considered a possible organ donor when they pass away, unless their name is on the HSE’s opt-out register.

The next of kin will always be consulted before any organs are donated.

“A year on, life without Samantha, it’s still a very big void in our lives that will probably never be filled, but her heart is still beating somewhere,” said Frank.

“Her lung is still drawing breath. The kidneys are still working. It doesn’t get a whole lot easier but it does give a bit of solace that there’s some positivity out of it.

“There are five people who have benefitted, even if it doesn’t make up for not having her.

“Everyone should consider organ donation and have that discussion with their families. We’d no question that we knew what we were doing was the right thing. We’d no debate about it.

“Samantha was a caring, giving person throughout her life. It was fitting that even in death this continued through the organ donations.”