Martin’s done so much with what he was given.. Toby’s dying has not been a waste
Donor’s parents meet man their son gave kidney to
ARCHERY champ Martin Strang was a bag of nerves before meeting the parents of a tragic teenager who had transformed his life.
Martin, wearing his Team GB kit, had to spend 15 minutes sitting in his car composing himself before facing Sally and Graham Hart for the first time.
The death of their 16-year-old son Toby had given Martin, 47, a kidney and pancreas – and he has made the most of his second chance at life.
Martin, born with a heart defect and a spinal condition, had suffered kidney failure and spent four years on dialysis until the organ transplant.
He had worried about whether Sally and Graham would like him – but he need not have. He said: “Sally put her arms around me and hugged me for about 10 minutes. It was very emotional.
“Now we keep in touch all the time via text and Facebook messages. Sally says we’re family now, which is lovely.”
Sally, 53, had wanted to know about the people who had received Toby’s organs. She said: “What I love about Martin is that he has done so many things since having the donation.
“I always think of it as Toby and Martin doing them together, which is just lovely. Toby dying wasn’t a waste. That’s what’s really important.”
Toby fell 60ft to his death from a cliff at Cadgwith Cove on Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula in July 2012.
But when applying for a provisional driving licence, he had ticked all the boxes for organ donation.
His heart, kidneys, liver and pancreas were all donated.
Knitting shop worker Sally, of Warrington, Cheshire, said: “We didn’t even have to think about it. At the hospital we were able to say ‘we want him to be an organ donor’.”
Insurance broker Martin, of Falkirk, Stirlingshire, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a toddler, which eventually resulted in his kidney failure.
When he received Toby’s kidney he wanted to honour his donor and, despite never being sporty, took up archery. By 2017 he was so good he won medals at the British, European and
World Transplant Games.
He was put into contact with Sally and Graham by
transplant charity the Donor Family Network. At their meeting in May, Martin discovered he and Toby had a shared interest in motorbikes.
And he was amazed to find out Toby had done an archery course as a child. Martin wears an archery arm guard with Toby’s name on and his quiver belt has the words: “For the needs of the many – in honour of Toby.”
He visited Toby’s grave in the summer to thank him. Martin added: “I’ve told the family ‘it’s Toby doing this – not me’. Every time I pick a bow up I think of him.” Nigel Burton, who runs the Donor Family Network, said recipients and donor families meeting
It’s Toby doing this. Every time I pick up a bow I think of him
MARTIN STRANG WHO RECEIVED TOBY’S ORGANS
can bring a sense of loss and survivor guilt but they can also work well.
He added: “We need people to have the conversation about organ donation.”
From spring 2020 all adults in England will be considered as having agreed to donate their organs unless they specifically opt out. The new organ donation law – Max and Keira’s Law – was passed following a Mirror campaign.
For information on organ donation and making your wishes known, see organdonation.nhs.uk and shareyour wishes.co.uk.
■ The organs of mum-of-three Laura Davies, 39, killed on Pembrey motorbike race track in Carmarthenshire in July, have saved four lives.