MUM FINDS SOLACE FOR SON’S DEATH
Melissa shares organ donation story
THE mother of a Downlands College student who tragically died in a car crash in 2009 says she found solace in donating his organs to save lives.
Melissa Keogh-Lancaster says son Henry Keogh-Keevers would be proud of the donation because he was a caring and considerate person.
Mrs Keogh-Lancaster will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Donate Life Service of Remembrance in Toowoomba.
IT IS difficult to imagine something positive emerging from the absolute tragedy of the loss of a child.
However, when Melissa Keogh-Lancaster’s 17-year-old son Henry Keogh-Keevers passed away in 2009 she managed to find some solace in the dark months that followed through organ donation.
Henry was a Year 12 student at Downlands College and had been hanging out with friends after a game of rugby.
Later that night Ms Keogh-Lancaster received a phone call from a policeman to say there had been a car crash.
Mrs Keogh-Lancaster and her husband rushed to the hospital but only thought Henry had sustained minor injuries.
“I was expecting to maybe see him with a broken arm but when we walked in he was in a neck brace and covered in blood, hooked up to machines,” she said.
“None of the blood was his, he only had a graze on the back of his hand, but he had sustained a serious head injury.”
Paramedics had revived and intubated him on the side of the road and taken him to Toowoomba Hospital, where they were preparing to airlift him to Brisbane.
But Henry never regained consciousness and days later, after his reflexes had stopped, the heartbreaking decision was made to turn off life support.
His family, who had stayed by his side in Brisbane throughout his coma, decided he would be an organ donor and kept him on life support while they went through the process of authorising and organising the donations.
The next day, Henry went into surgery for a final procedure to retrieve his organs.
“He was a very healthy young man who stayed fit by playing rugby so we were able to donate his heart, lungs, liver and kidneys which saved or extended the lives of five people,” Mrs Keogh-Lancaster said.
“His organs made a huge difference to the lives of five recipients, including a little girl who needed a kidney and a middle-aged man whose dream was to live long enough to walk his daughter down the aisle.
“It helps me a little to deal with the loss of Henry when I think about the five people whose lives we were able to extend.
“I think how it was something that he would have been proud of, because he was such a caring and considerate person.”
Mrs Keogh-Lancaster will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Donate Life Service of Remembrance in Toowoomba.
“It is just one of the ways that I can keep his memory alive,” she said.
“It is also nice to see the recipients there who are so appreciative of getting another chance at life.
“It is a very emotional and healing experience and anyone who has a connection to organ and tissue donation is more than welcome to attend.
“That includes people who have received a life-saving transplant or people whose family members have donated their tissues and organs.”
Mrs Keogh-Lancaster will share her and her son’s organ donation story when she speaks at the Donate Life Service of BELOVED SON: Henry Keogh-Keevers passed away in 2009 and his mum is giving a speech on organ donation. CONTRIBUTED
❝ I think how it was something that he would have been proud of, because he was such a caring and considerate person. — Melissa Keogh-Lancaster
Remembrance tomorrow.
Held annually across the nation, the Toowoomba service will take place at the Unara building, Toowoomba Hospital at 2pm.
For more information about organ donation, including how to join the organ donor register visit donatelife.gov.au.