TRANSPLANTS
TWO mums have come together at the grave side where one woman’s son is buried with the heart of the other.
In 2003, Marc McCay was hours from death, suffering organ failure after being diagnosed with heart condition cardiomyopathy.
Marc, of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, was 15 at the time and in desperate need of a lifesaving transplant.
Hundreds of miles away in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Martin Burton, 16, died of a brain haemorrhage.
His parents, Sue, 57, and Nigel, 59, decided to donate their son’s organ.
Marc was the recipient of Martin’s heart and was given a further 13 years of life. He passed away in his mum Linda’s arms last September. He was 29.
Now, surrounded by family, the mums have come together at Marc’s grave on what would have been Martin’s 30th birthday.
Linda, 53, said: “What they did for Marc and that selfless act of kindness, we can never thank them enough. They gave us 13 more years of Marc. For that, we can never repay them.
“We wanted to come to Marc’s grave to mark Martin’s birthday. His heart is buried there too.”
Sue said: “It’s surreal to imagine Martin as a 30-year-old, but it’s nice to mark the occasion in a special way. We miss him every day.”
Sue, along with her husband Nigel, are trustees of The Donor Family Network – who offer a wide range of support to donor families.
She said: “We know Martin saved two lives and enhanced others. But many families we talk to say they have never contacted their donor families because they feel guilt or don’t know how to put what they want to say into words.
“I always say no one should feel guilty because a person waiting on organ donation isn’t waiting for someone to die. They are waiting for someone who was going to die anyway.
“Without any warning, Martin fell ill and then fell into a coma. Sadly, he never came out.
“No matter what we had decided that night, we would still be in the same position without Martin now. We were losing our son anyway.
“We wanted something positive to come out of what we had lost.”
Marc hit the headlines in 2014 when Sue felt her son Martin’s heart beating in Marc’s chest.
She said at the time: “He reached for my hand and placed it there. I shed a bucketful of tears.”
On Friday, the families came together at the grave side before attending a fundraising night at Lochbarr Services Leisure Centre in Lochwinnoch.
The event was designed to raise funds for the The Special advanced heart failure unit at The Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank, where Marc was cared for in his last few days. The unit, which is part of the Scottish National Advanced Heart Failure Service, is dedicated to managing patients with heart failure who may be candidates for heart transplantation or
We wanted to mark Martin’s birthday. His heart is buried here too LINDA McCAY