Fiona's fundraiser for Believe - Organ Donor Support
Fiona Morgan is raising money for Believe - Organ Donor Support
In memory of Kevin Tuohy
Story
After recently losing Kevin (our big brother) in September 2023 we realised that there was little support for families who's loved ones have donated organs. We would like to help raise awareness and support for a deserving charity which can sometimes be forgotten.
Kevin's Story
On the 24th of September 2023, age 37, Kevin went into the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham to undergo a major but relatively routine heart surgery. Kevin had been diagnosed as a baby with a heart condition (Aortic Stenosis) which meant that throughout his life he had undergone multiple heart surgeries.
The few years before Kevin's death he had began to decline in health finding every day tasks a challenge - this prompted surgeons to schedule him for surgery to replace one of the valves in his heart.
On the 25th September 2023 Kevin went down for a surgery that was expected to last for 6-7 hours however, after waiting longer than expected we received a call to advise that there had been complications. The nurses explained that when Kevin came round from surgery his chest had to be re-opened and his heart manually pumped to keep him alive. Kevin was stabilised but in a critical condition, we were told that he would be taken back into surgery once he had rested for 48 hours. However in the early hours of the 26th September 2023 we got the call that no family ever wants - that we needed to go to the hospital. Throughout the night further tests had been completed and it was found that Kevin had suffered catastrophic brain damage which meant that his brain function was no longer compatible with life.
Our hearts were shattered into a million pieces - made worse by errors made prior to the surgery.
As a family we new that Kevin would want to help others and started the process of testing to see if he was viable for Organ Donation - this process was a lot harder than we had anticipated and whilst there is support there is definitely more that can be done to help.
We lost Kevin on the 27th September 2023 and have felt lost ever since.
Kevin has a beautiful wife and 2 beautiful girls age 17 & 9, a doting Mom & Dad and a younger brother and sister along with family and friends who have been left shattered by his death.
Kevin would have hated doing a half marathon...
Kevin would have hated doing a half marathon, me (Fiona) and Kevin's little brother Mike are complete novice runners. We thought we would give him a few months of laughing at us up there while we train. We want to raise money to help other families that are going through such a traumatic time by completing the Birmingham Half Marathon on May 5th 2024!!!!
We will be joined by Kevin's brother-in-law Adam Morgan, his cousin Helen Hill and cousin-in-law Matthew Hill.
Our family will never be the same without Kevin we have lost something so precious and he can never be replaced.
Thanks for any contribution that can be made
Fi
XOXO
Some words from me and Mike-
As a sibling you have a unique thread that connects you forever, it's woven into your heart with every memory you have with each other. It's created from the minute you meet as small humans - tiny moments that intertwine you together. It's invisible for anyone else to see but you feel it in the big and little moments of your life. As a sibling you experience every emotion with each other and learn in the process - the happy ones create memories you carry with you forever, the sad ones strengthen your thread a little more closely and the angry ones give you valuable lessons that we take with us throughout our lives. On the 27th September 2023 we took our first breathes on this earth without you in it and in that moment the linked part of our hearts shattered into thousands of pieces - it is an immeasurable ache that we will feel forever. The future happy moments tainted by the sadness and pain of your absence. A third of our sibling puzzle lost forever. Until we are all together again - love you always.