Update: ‘One thing could have saved our daughter’s life’|’One thing could have saved our daughter’s life’ News}

‘Bubbly and bright’ Maisie Almond, 14, died due to acute liver failure the day after a life-saving donor was found. Now her parents are ‘continuing to shine her light’

When 14-year-old Maisie Almond first complained of a tummy ache, her parents thought it was nothing out of the ordinary.

But her health ‘deteriorated rapidly’ and doctors uncovered she had developed acute liver failure and was in desperate need of surgery. Within just two weeks, Kathryn and Stuart had to say goodbye to their daughter.

Man City fan Maisie, from Stalybridge, who dreamed of becoming an accountant and had plans to backpack around the world with her friends, lost her short battle on October 2 last year.

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The teenager, described by her parents as ‘happy and smiling all the time’, underwent multiple tests at Tameside Hospital before it was revealed she had acute liver failure.

She was rushed to a specialist unit in Leeds on September 27 but ‘rapidly deteriorated’ and died five days later – just a day after a life-saving organ donor was found for her.

Her parents, who have since applied for charity status having set up Maisie Moo’s Missions in her memory, are now raising important and life-saving awareness about blood and organ donation and funds to help disadvantaged youths to ‘keep her light shining’.

“Maisie died suddenly from acute liver failure. Completely out of blue. So we have set up a charity and raised £40,000 so far. It’s a lengthy process, but we are delighted to now have submitted our application to the Charity Commission. But what we didn’t want to do in the meantime was sit and do nothing,” Kathryn said.

“We have continued our work in promoting blood and organ donation, and have had meetings with the NHS to talk about things from our side and our shared goals to save or improve lives. The NHS is still in alert for blood shortage.

“One of our first things to organise was a blood donation session with the NHS at All Saints Catholic College in Dukinfield, which is the school Maisie went too. They have been incredibly supportive of us since this happened.”

As of January this year, NHS England was continuing to urge people to make blood donations, as the need for blood in hospitals across the UK over Christmas exceeded donations and soared by almost 3,000 units.

Blood is constantly needed to help the NHS treat patients with cancer, blood disorders and those suffering medical trauma or undergoing surgery, and O negative blood is mostly used for emergency care. Each donation can save or improve up to three lives.

Kathryn added: “Going into the summer holidays, there will be a dip in blood donations which will impact the already difficult situation the NHS is facing. What we want to do is encourage people to make appointments and use Maisie’s story as a way to be encouraged. It’s one pint of blood and 60 minutes of people’s time, which could save or improve the lives of three people.

“Maisie has definitely inspired people to do that. Not every day is an easy day for us. It can be so hard to face the day sometimes without her. Especially when there’s events coming up like this; it’s bittersweet because you want to be pleased but in the back of your mind, you realise why you are there.

“We want to keep her light shining bright through helping other people. Maisie was extremely well liked and popular and always wanted to help people, so we will carry that on in her name. The days seem to get harder, not easier, but we are determined to help other people.

“It’s our true story. We’ve lived it. We want this to set off a tidal wave and make people think about donating blood and also being aware of the organ donor register.”

Maisie, who volunteered in a local charity shop in Hyde tragically died just a day after a life-saving organ donor was found for her.

But her parents Kathryn and Stuart said she ‘deteriorated rapidly’ and that the teenager would have been ‘too weak’ to undergo the gruelling 12 hour transplant procedure, which would have also required large amounts of donated blood. She died in the early hours of October 2.

“We thought it was just a tummy bug that goes round school and that, after a day off school, she’d be fine,” parents Kathryn and Stuart previously told the Manchester Evening News. “We thought it was probably a run of the mill tummy bug, especially with going back after the holidays.

“However, we noticed she was becoming jaundice in her eyes, so we took her to the hospital emergency department on the Monday and from there she had just loads of tests. She became more jaundice. Bloods were taken. They originally thought it was hepatitis but that came back negative too.

“We then very quickly we found ourselves at Leeds Infirmary, which is one of the main liver transplant units in the country. We went there thinking because it was a specialist hospital, she would get the best care. But very quickly it became apparent she was actually in acute liver failure and needed a transplant, which was the only way she’d survive.”

Kathryn added: “Acute liver failure can happen within days with no warning signs. There’s nothing they [the doctors] could have done or given her any sooner. She wouldn’t have made the donor list any sooner and wouldn’t have survived.

“It was extremely rare. She had no underlying health conditions, she was totally fit and went to the gym four times a week. She was a picture of health.”

The change in the law now means that it’s assumed that when someone dies in circumstances where they could be a donor, that they agree to donate if they haven’t officially opted out – but families are consulted and can override the decision. Last year in the UK, 4,651 people waiting for an organ transplant had their lives saved by the 1,510 deceased organ donors and their families who signed up to the register.

And, every year, it’s estimated the NHS need around 143,000 new donors to ensure it has the right mix of blood groups to meet patient demand.

Details about blood donation can be found via the NHS Blood Donation website here.