‘Transplant angel’ now helping sick Ukrainians
ORGAN DONATION VOLUNTEER IS AIDING REFUGEES
FROM her Newcastle home, Lynne Holt has been helping to get Ukrainian refugees who need transplant care or dialysis to hospitals around eastern Europe – and she’s fundraising so she can help as many people in this vulnerable group as she can.
Lynne spent four decades working as a transplant co-ordinator around the country – including at the Freeman in Newcastle. She’s now using her network of contacts among the worldwide transplant community to arrange flights, tackle passport trouble, and otherwise ensure that any Ukrainian refugees who need specialist healthcare from transplant teams can get that.
Though she’s retired, Lynne remains a Organ Donation Ambassador and is involved in organising the World Transplant Games. Now, she’s raised more than £12,000 – and counting – to support some of the most vulnerable people fleeing the Russian invasion in
Ukraine. She told the Sunday Sun: “Just the thought of all those refugees is horrific – and that’s especially the case for those who’ve had transplants or those needing dialysis who are all having to suddenly leave home to get to a safe country.
“I have a lot of contacts – a lot of them are volunteers for their national transplant programmes like me – I decided to connect with them because I could see that, for example, Poland was getting a lot of people crossing the border who needed this sort of help. I have never done this kind of Gofundme thing before.”
Lynne, who was dubbed the “Angel of the Freeman Hospital” and thanked personally by the UK’S longest-surviving heart transplant recipient Kaylee Davidson-olley, retired from her role at the Freeman in 2015 but remains closely involved with the transplant community.
Lynne said that since setting up the fundraiser earlier in March she had been able to work with friends and colleagues
in countries like Romania and Poland to mobilise volunteers and find hospital space to get Ukrainian refugees the treatment they need. She explained this had involved paying for flights around Europe for extremely sick patients who need dialysis, for example.
One such patient is Elena – a young woman who arrived in the Polish city of Poznan by train in need of dialysis. Lynne and the network of volunteers in the transport community have been able to ensure she had her treatment in Poland. The team has also been hoping to arrange flights to get her to Bucharest in Romania where she has friends, and where further treatment will be arranged. Lynne is also helping connect people with the Romanian Transplant Association, which she said had eight patients and families currently on their system. One man, Tsvetcov, crossed the Danube on a ferry to the Romanian city of Galati, and the volunteers and the RTA were helping get him to dialysis, too.
Lynne added it was wonderful to have helped people like Elena. “We were able to pay for flights for this young woman in Poland – and anyone who donates to this fund, their money is being spent on accommodation, transport, medication and the daily living costs for people who’ve had or need transplants or are on dialysis.”
She said it was important that the families affected had the money they needed in their pockets themselves – adding: “They’ve suddenly had to leave their homes and if you don’t have a credit card or cash in the house, it’s incredibly difficult.”
As for the reaction to her fundraising efforts so far, Lynne added: “It’s been wonderful. It’s good to promote transplants too – and this is a really specific fund to help those people.”
Visit gofundme.com/f/support-fortransplant-and-dialysis-refugeesukr
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I have a lot of contacts – a lot of them are volunteers for their national transplant programmes like me – I decided to connect with them.
ORGAN DONATION AMBASSADOR
LYNNE HOLT