Gainford widow's donor plea one year on from husband's death

A GAINFORD widow, whose husband underwent a lung transplant, is urging others to consider giving the gift of life.

It is almost a year since Brian Jackson, of Gainford, lost his 11-year battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition which scars the lungs and reduces the efficiency of breathing.

Mr Jackson was fortunate enough to receive a lung transplant but he died one year and one day later on November 20, 2016, aged 64.

Now his widow, Carol, 49, has decided to share their tragic story in the hope of encouraging others to become organ donors.

The couple had only been married for two weeks when Mr Jackson started struggling to breathe in June 2005. Mr Jackson was just 53 when he was diagnosed with the chronic condition.

Despite only having a 63 per cent lung capacity, steroids enabled the couple to live a relatively normal life until 2014 when he was told he also had pulmonary hypertension. In July 2014, the former managing director of Darlington’s BIB insurance brokers was told he would need a lung transplant. Mr Jackson was turned down twice for the procedure at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital.

Mrs Jackson said: “You have to be poorly enough to warrant such a big operation but strong enough to be able to take it and the Freeman said we were in that window.

“To say we were gutted was an understatement. We were backwards and forwards to the clinic at the Freeman before the next assessment and we were told that the window was closing and Brian was getting weaker. We also knew that he would be lucky to see Christmas.”

After being put on the list again in May 2015, the next call came in August but the lungs were not suitable. It wasn’t until the November that the couple received the call they wanted.

Mrs Jackson said: “We waited and waited and then at 8am we were told it was a go. I felt sick, stressed, shaking, crying, laughing – every emotion. Poor Brian was terrified.”

Mr Jackson was sedated for ten days but did not leave hospital until March 2016.

Mrs Jackson said: “It was a long hard road and I honestly didn’t know what I was going into each day and Brian endured a lot.”

Family time returned to normal until August last year.

Mr Jackson was admitted to the Freeman Hospital for the final time in October but there was nothing doctors could do.

He spent his final days at home and died on November 20 surrounded by family.

Mrs Jackson said: “Brian loved life. We had a lovely, happy marriage and I know I met the love of my life but I also know that without the transplant Brian would have never got his chance and we wouldn’t have had the extra time we got.

“We were lucky to have each other, lucky to have a chance and also I was lucky that I got to sit with him while he slipped away and say goodbye. It could have all been so different in good and bad ways.”

More than 350 people attended his funeral which raised money for the Freeman Hospital.

Mrs Jackson said: “I have and always will have the utmost admiration for all of the staff at the Freeman as the care, patience and dedication they had with Brian was outstanding. They are always promoting organ donation and usually with a happy ending. Ours didn’t have a happy ending but as I’ve said we were lucky to have that chance and for many it works.”

Mrs Jackson is now hoping to encourage others to sign the organ donor register.

She said: “We must continue to support organ donation as over 6,000 people in the UK are waiting for a transplant and a high percentage die while waiting.

“The last thing I would want to do is preach to someone as it is a very personal thing but many people either haven’t given it a thought or have signed the list but not spoken to their nearest and dearest about their wishes. If you express your wishes to your family it makes it easier. Have the conversation.”