This is a photo of my Mum, Rosemary Fradley with my Dad, Alan Fradley.

Mum died on 5th March 2007, aged 64.

Mum had been diagnosed as a Diabetic around 10 years ago, and it was the Diabetes which led to Non Alcoholic Steatohepititis (otherwise known as NASH) - Liver Cirrhosis.

Liver Cirrhosis is generally linked to alcoholism - but I think it's important to highlight the fact that this is not always the case. Mum was never a drinker and virtually teetotal.

The liver cirrhosis was first diagnosed in 2001, back then Mum was working and led a normal and active life.
By 2003 it had become apparant that the Cirrhosis was progressing at an alarming rate and an eventual Liver Transplant would be her only hope of survival. 

As her Liver was not functioning properly, fluid retention was beginning to limit Mums ability to move around. From time to time Mum would have the fluid drained at the Derby Royal Infirmary Hospital, but this led to further complications;
Encephalopathy, where toxins not being removed by the liver, travel to the brain. What made this side effect scary was how it manifests; difficulty concentrating, complete personality changes, forgetfulness, and can even lead to coma and death.

Mum broke her hip after a fall in 2004. With her medical condition as it was, Mum ended up in a coma following her hip replacement operation. At the time, the doctors advised us that they did not expect that Mum would survive the night. Fortunately for us however, Mum was a strong fighter, and gave the doctors a run for their money! 14 days later, Dad was able to bring her home.

Getting onto the 'Transplant List' is quite an ordeal in itself. As there are a very limited amount of organs available for transplant, the recipient has to be at the very end stages of the disease, usually with a short life expectancy.
Although Mum was very poorly on the inside, from the outside, few people would have known how ill she was. The photo above was taken in August 2006, just a few months before she passed away - which I think illustrates my point perfectly. Her strong will and determindly independent, effervescent character kept us all in a positive and optimistic mindframe. Mum did not even regard herself as being ill - she simply had a 'condition' and was going to get better, full stop.

Following several hospital assessments, Mum eventually joined the 'Transplant List' at Birminghams Queen Elizabeth Hospital in August 2005.
The saddest part is that Mum had to wait 18 months before a suitable donor liver became available. This is in no way any fault of the hospitals or transplant co-ordinators who are doing a sterling job with what little resourses thay have. There is simply a huge lack of registered organ donors (currently only about one in four of us in the UK are registered as an organ donor). My personal goal is to hopefully encourage as many people as possible to join the organ donor register, and help save lives. We really can't underestimate the importance of 'action' rather than 'thought'. Obviously, the subject of organ donation is rather close to home for me, but before Mum was diagnosed with Liver Cirrhosis, I had 'thought' about becoming an organ donor. To be honest, that's as far as I got, I thought about it, felt the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, then promptly forgot about it. However, my family and I have, first hand, seen how such a small act of kindness can have such a huge impact on the lives of others. I am now an organ donor, and proud to be one. I havn't had to 'do' anything, just simply add my name to a list, inform my close family of my wishes and that's it. Some may think it's morbid, but I know that if I should die before my time, then others will be given the opportunity to live.

I am forever thankful to the un-named, unknown man who had registered as an organ donor and came into our lives on the 26th January this year.  He gave us the chance to enjoy many more precious years with our Mum. Unfortunately, the wait for a transplant had taken it's toll, and following a successful Liver Transplantation, Mum survived just five short weeks. Other lives were saved however, including that of a young girl who received the smaller section of the donor liver.

On the news recently, you may have seen that they are now trying to make it mandatory that every person in the UK should have their names automatically put on the organ donor register - and 'opt out' if they don't wish to be a donor, as they do in many other countries. This would be a tremendous step forward, and negate the need for anyone to have to give the register a 'spine tingling' second thought, as it would already have been done for them. However, any such legislation is likely to be years away, so it is still vitally important for people to register as an organ donor sooner rather than later.

If you would like to Register as an Organ Donor, please visit the website:

 http://www.uktransplant.org.uk

Worthwhile charity with an Informative Website for all Liver related Diseases:

http://www.britishlivertrust.org.uk

Birminghams Queen Elizabeth (University Hospital) Website: http://www2.uhb.nhs.uk

At my Mums funeral, we requested that instead of flowers, family and friends donate money to the Liver Foundation Trust, a charity run by Birminghams Queen Elizabeth Hospital. In total £1263.00 was raised for the charity. We intend on making an annual donation to the trust, and if anyone would like to contribute to the fund, donations will be gratefully received.