Jess survived for years living on a dialysis drip but after getting a lifesaving double-transplant is celebrating her first Mother’s Day at home as a parent
One mum will be celebrating how organ donation has given her the gift of new life this Mother’s Day. Jess Harris, 36, is celebrating having the life she never thought possible after years of living on a dialysis drip awaiting a kidney and pancreas transplant.
The Mirror reported her story in 2018 as part of our Change the Law for Life campaign how Jess’s home had become like a prison cell. Hers is a story of hope though as she was freed after receiving a lifesaving transplant from a deceased donor and has since given birth to her “miracle boy” Ezra. Today Jess is celebrating her first Mother’s Day at home as a parent.
Jess said: “I’m under no illusion that I’m only able to do all these mum things and commit to my full parental duties because of my new kidney and pancreas. They’ve enabled me to survive everything from severe sleep deprivation to 4.30am bottle feeds and everything in between and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Ezra is magic, and I’m beyond blessed every single day that I’m no longer a bystander in life, but I am living my very best life as his mummy.”
Jess slowly but recovered from the 9-hour long double transplant operation and six years later gave birth just days before Mother’s Day last year. Before her transplant Jess told the Mirror how she “existed” on peritoneal dialysis which was set up by the NHS so she could do it herself at home. It was hooked to her coat stand and saw sterile cleansing fluid pumped into her stomach through a catheter.
She explained the first thing she did when she woke up was dialysis, it was the last thing she did before bed, and it was all she thought about in between. Speaking at the time she said: “This isn’t a life. My life is on hold until I get my transplant. Now my life is just dialysis, hospital appointments and being admitted to A&E when I am really ill.”
This year, she and her fiancé, Jacob, will be celebrating their first proper Mother’s Day together with their little boy and their beloved dog by their side, as well as planning their wedding. She said: “Ezra, our miracle boy, has just turned one and wow, what a year it’s been. Not only have I adapted into ‘mum’ life, but I’ve also been healthy and blessed to witness him reach and achieve every milestone.
“I’m doing this whole mum thing while juggling transplant life, and although it’s not always easy, it’s the best feeling in the world, watching our boy grow and experience the world. It’s exhausting, because I have a one-year-old, it’s chaotic, because I also have a dog. It’s full because I have a fiancé, a wedding to plan and a family, but moreover, I have my health and my future to live for.”
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was just 12 years-old, Jess faced years of health challenges, including gruelling dialysis sessions, and getting salmonella in 2016 which eventually caused her kidneys to fail. At her lowest point Jess’s medical teams feared she was too unwell to survive a transplant operation if the call came.
She said: “I am alive today because of a man and his generosity, selflessness and desire to save a stranger. This man is someone I never met, will never get to meet, yet I only have my life because of him. He gave me my life back when he wasn’t in a position to live his own.
“I feel like I’ve lived a life of two halves and I’m only in my 30s. I’ve lived my pre-transplant life where I was literally, just about existing from a hospital bed on a renal ward compared to now, thriving in my post-transplant era, where I can honestly say that I’m living my best life.
“My life is everything I never thought it would be. It’s exhausting. It’s chaotic. Sometimes stressful. But it’s also full. It’s beautiful and filled with all the things I once could only dream about.”
Jess’s story is a powerful reminder of how organ donation not only transforms lives but can go on to create new ones. Last year 4,651 people waiting for an organ transplant had their lives saved by the generosity of the 1,510 deceased organ donors and their families who gave the gift of life. Over half of those who donated had recorded their decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Anthony Clarkson, Director of Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant said: “Jess’s story shows the phenomenal difference organ donation can make. But it’s only possible through individuals agreeing to donate their organs when they die. This is why it’s so important to register your decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register and let your family know it’s what you want.
“Families are far more likely to support donation when they already know it was what their relative wanted. Almost 90% of people honoured their family members decision to be a donor last year when they had either proactively registered their decision to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register or verbally expressed a decision to be a donor. This Mother’s Day, as families come together to celebrate, we’re reminded of the life-changing impact of saying ‘yes’ to donation.”
Only around 1% of people who die in the UK every year are usually able to donate their organs after death. Donors are typically those who have died in a hospital intensive care unit or emergency department due to brain injuries or cardiac arrest.
Click HERE to join the organ donor register.