Gone too soon: Legacy after dying at 20
An Auckland student who died while celebrating her 20th birthday saved six other people through donating her organs.
Now Gabrielle Marsh’s friends have started a Givealittle page to fund a scholarship in her memory.
Friend Sumner Hutton said on Facebook, that Marsh was a selfless and outstanding woman.
‘‘There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t wish you were still here,’’ she wrote.
‘‘Your legacy will now live on in other promising students. You continue to make me immensely proud to have called you a sister.’’
Hutton posted an emotional tribute when Marsh died on her 20th birthday.
‘‘You were taken far too soon but I know you are watching over us all,’’ she said.
‘‘You were the kindest, most incredible soul to ever walk this earth and heaven is lucky to gain an angel like you.
‘‘Fly high gab, you will forever be in the hearts of those you touched.’’
Marsh had been enjoying birthday drinks with friends in early March when she complained of a headache.
Hours later she was lying in agony on the floor of her family home in Avondale while her mother, Kathryn, called an ambulance. Later that night staff at Auckland City Hospital told her family that Marsh had suffered a brain haemorrhage, which was likely to be fatal.
Her family made the decision to take her off life support - but only once her organs had been donated.
On Monday, March 6 - her 20th birthday - Marsh’s kidney, pancreas, lungs, liver and heart valves were all successfully transferred to donor recipients.
‘‘You were selfless in both life and in passing,’’ Sutton wrote on Facebook.
‘‘Because of you and your family more than six people’s lives were saved.’’
Marsh, who was about to start her third year of a double degree in commerce and law, was ‘‘passionate, fun loving and kind,’’ her friends wrote on the Givealittle page.
‘‘She smiled easily and often. She was selfless, considerate and generous. She was someone who impacted everyone she met.’’
To honour her academic ability they have started the Gabby Marsh Scholarship.
The Givealittle page had raised more than $36,000 as of March 22.