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Your local news from Paekakariki to Otaki
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
‘Caring’ woman’s organs save lives
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DAVID HAXTON Vital organs from a much-loved Waikanae woman, who died soon after a sudden massive brain bleed, have saved the lives of four people. Ed Knighton, 62, collapsed on her way to an event at Kapiti College, from an aneurysm. Resuscitation efforts kept her alive and she was airlifted to Wellington Hospital, where a CT scan showed she was brain dead. With family consent, life support was turned off and an organ transplant team removed her lungs, liver, kidneys and eye tissue. Within hours, the lungs were transplanted to a man in his 40s who had been critically ill, the liver to a woman in her 40s, the left kidney to a woman in her 70s and the right kidney to a man in his 50s. The corneas will be transplanted soon and the white part of the eye within a year. “It wasn’t easy [giving consent] but we know that’s what she would have wanted,” husband Geoff Knighton said. “We’ve always had conversations as a family about organ donation, so it didn’t come out of the blue.” Mrs Knighton, with no previous health issues of note, felt fine on Wednesday, August 27. She was looking forward to seeing Dancing With The Staff, which was going to feature her son Paul Knighton, who is a teacher at the college. After finishing work at Kapiti Dental Centre, where she worked as a dental assistant, she went home for some dinner before being picked up by family member Margaret Day and going to the Boundary Tap and Kitchen for a glass of wine. The pair then walked down Margaret Rd and into the college’s main entrance, but halfway down the pathway Mrs Knighton grasped her head. Mrs Day helped her to the ground and started CPR before emergency services arrived and Westpac Rescue Helicopter flew Mrs Knighton to Wellington Hospital, where a CT scan showed she was brain dead. “We raised the fact she wanted to be a donor,” Mr Knighton said. “They seek family consent too.
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GONE TOO SOON: Ed Knighton was a warm, open person, who cared about people. PHOTO: KAP090814SPLEDNA
“It was light in the darkness for us,” Mr Knighton said. “She has always been a caring person. “While it has been a tragic, sad loss for us, it has been a real benefit for four other families who might have lost loved ones.” Organ Donation New Zealand says less than one per cent of people die in circumstances where organ donation is possible. People who donate their organs have died in an intensive care unit as a result of severe and non-survivable brain damage. People who die outside of hospital from a heart attack, for example, or at the scene of a car crash, can’t donate organs for transplantation.
“We agreed and they gave us overnight [to confirm consent].” She was kept on life support to keep her organs functioning. The next day, Mr Knighton and the couple’s son, Paul, and daughter, Amy, gave their consent, and then after a bit more time, said their final goodbyes at lunchtime. A transplant team came down from Auckland and operated throughout the night, finishing at 4.30am on the Friday, and by 6am, transplants were taking place. All the recipients are recovering well in hospital.
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