Anna Rose Loades: 10/3/93-21/12/23: Raising money for the 3 UK hospitals that helped her to live.
Raising money for 3 charities
In memory of Anna Rose Loades
Story
IF DONATING, PLEASE TAKE CARE REGARDING THE 18% "TIP" JUST GIVING ADDS TO YOUR DONATION, IT CAN BE CHANGED BEFORE PAYING.
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THE THREE HOSPITALS ARE LISTED BELOW: PLEASE PICK ONE;
IF YOU DONT HAVE A PREFERENCE, PLEASE PICK ONE THAT HAS THE LEAST DONATED SO FAR.
The life of Anna Rose could be told as two separate stories: the challenging medical situation that threatened her life six times, three of which were before the age of two before finally claiming her at the age of 30,
and her indomitable spirit, fun and zest for life that meant she made the very, very most of the short life she had.
So we start with a brief summary as possible of the medical challenges Anna faced to provide a backdrop, and then moving onto to Anna's character, for unless you know her, it can be difficult to reconcile the medical challenges with her absolute joie de vivre.
There is then a selection of pictures, stories and audio recordings where you can get a real feel for who Anna was, and finally, organ donation links for UK, Australia, Europe, USA & Canada.
BRIEF MEDICAL HISTORY.
Anna was given the last rites by a priest in St Marys Intensive Care Unit aged 4 weeks; major surgery and further intensive care at 8 weeks old at Great Ormond Street, and a liver transplant 2 weeks after her 2nd birthday at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
The intensity of the circumstances were always present from the age of four weeks right through to her third birthday, with eleven different drugs and formulas being taken four times per day, finally reducing to just one anti-rejection drug by her third birthday, and frequent hospital visits and blood tests in between, often weekly and with numerous overnight stays.
Despite all of that, from 3 years old, Anna's childhood was medically relatively trouble free in comparison, and it was at the age of 19 that the liver started to fail again. There was no transplant offered then, and her life was in grave danger, but somehow Anna miraculously stabilised, but the liver was severely damaged.
Then at 25 she had liver failure, kidney failure and e-coli all in one go. Anna had much less than a week left to live when she was put on the acute liver transplant list, and the very next day one became available, and yet another perfect operation and recovery.
The final time her liver failed was during 2023, and in October 2023 Anna was diagnosed as terminal as a transplant was not an option, given the way the liver failure presented itself, and she passed away on the 21st December, 2023; having made sure she made the most of those few weeks.
More information of what Anna went through medically in those first three years of her life is summarised on each of the individual UK hospital donation pages linked to this site.
HOW ANNA FULLY LIVED HER LIFE.
I have often commented how those first three years of Anna's life were so traumatic for her mum, Louise, and myself. It is only more recently that someone pointed out to me that if it was that traumatic for us, how do we think it was for a baby who went through such physical and mental trauma that could not even communicate?
With that backdrop, it is difficult to describe how full of life Anna was. It really was like she knew it would be short, and she would live it to the fullest regardless.
Anna made life-long friends from pre-school and year 1 of school:- Alise, Annabelle, Laura, Marney and Rhys- all would see each other every week or month of their lives if they could, all from school. They were there at the end.
Anna and her younger sister Phoebe were extremely close; they fought sometimes like sisters do but they always, always had each other's back.
Anna and her brother Barrett shared a remarkable passion for basketball; Anna spent most of her time bemoaning the failures of the Cleveland Cavaliers v Barrett's love of the Boston Celtics.
Anna always wanted an extended family, and was delighted to have two stepsisters; Anna and Georgia were toddler buddies, whilst Anna and Saskia shared their strong mutual tastes in music, mostly 10,000 miles part;
and to have two step mums, Paris and Dani; Anna's passions included shopping, music and theatre; Paris took Anna on frequent visits to Brent Cross Shopping Centre with respect to the first, and Dani took her to the Albert Hall with respect to the latter; fulfilling a lifelong dream for Anna.
And she accumulated many friends along the way, Anna was liked by all who met her, she had a way of being able to touch everyone's heart.
She was also dating from the age of 14; I don't recall Anna ever not dating for too long.
Leaving school, Anna enjoyed a career in selling; just had a knack for it. From mobile phone accessories, to jewellery accessories, to managing Skechers shoe stores (turning poor performing stores into great performing ones; teaching staff how to upsell two more pairs of shoes as well as laces and polish); finally selling kitchens with an enthusiasm that confounded all those around her.
Eventually she settled down with her fiance Tarran and his wonderful family; including mum Di and dad Greg, in the quiet New South Wales country town of Bungendore. Tarran has 6 siblings, and the whole family took Anna in as one of the family, and she lived in their loving environment and was looked after by them until just a few days before she passed away.
Anna knew what was coming, but fearless to the end, she did her level best to make the most of it, living 14 days out of her last 21 at such a pace, those around her were struggling to keep up.
And in the words of A.A. Milne, as written in Winnie the Pooh,
"How lucky we are to have something, that makes saying goodbye so hard".
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PICTURES, STORIES AND AUDIO RECORDINGS OF ANNA'S LIFE.
There is so much more that can be said, just not enough pages for that to be written upon.
To view a collection of photos and videos of Anna, to one of her favourite songs “You and I” by Lady Gaga, click on this link: https://www.canva.com/design/DAF4K2xUZHg/pDUv4qJc46gCaKAaUFhnMQ/watch?utm_content=DAF4K2xUZHg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h6a16dc8576 .
To get a good idea of Anna's sense of fun, you can listen to the short voice note from Anna to her dad that was played at the memorial service, click on this link:-
To read Phoebe's wonderful story of her relationship with her sister, click on this link:-
To read her brother's Barrett contribution to the UK Memorial Service, including a precis of a poem read by Anna's fiance's father, Greg Addison at the Australian Memorial Service last year, click on this link:-
To hear about her day in London with her her stepmother Dani B, click on this link:-
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/k690py2f721yzqtd9yxj8/Dani-B-day-with-Anna.m4a?rlkey=yuev3x8z0b47sbj2waizrcdgj&st=5lznmbwa&dl=0
To read the "Sunflowers, Mirrors of Glory" poem by L. Gayle Orf, read by Dani B at the UK Memorial Service, click on this link:-
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/312226186642799022/
To listen to the "14 days to live" poem about how Anna lived her life to the most in 14 of her last 21 days, written and read by Anna's dad, please click here:-
To view the service sheet for the UK Memorial Service of the 8th March 2023, click on this link:
And finally, to use a quote that Anna's sister Saskia found, is a slight variation on quote by A.A. Milne in that great philosophical work, Winnie the Pooh:-
How lucky we are,
to have someone,
that makes saying goodbye,
so hard.
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If it were not for the three hospitals being put forward for donation on these pages: St Marys Paddington, Great Ormond Street, and Birmingham Children’s Hospital, this short life that touched so many hearts would never have been lived.
So please donate to help them continue the good work and support.
ORGAN DONATION:
While 90% of the UK population support organ and tissue donation, only around 41% are registered to be a donor. Anna kindly asks you to consider your donor status in her memory, wherever you are in the world.
UK: if you have not registered with the NHS and you would like to, please follow this link: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-your-decision/ .
AUSTRALIA: if you have not registered in Australia and you would like to, please follow this link: https://www.donatelife.gov.au/register-donor-today .
EUROPE: different rules apply for different countries, so please search locally.
USA: https://www.registerme.org/ .
CANADA: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/healthy-living/blood-organ-tissue-donation/organ-tissue.html
Tribute members (3)
Fundraising for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity£1,018 of £500- Fundraising for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity£820 of £500
- Fundraising for Imperial Health Charity£812 of £500