Easingwold athlete 'competing for my organ donor'

BBC News

a day ago

When Louise Prashad was diagnosed with a rare pregnancy-related condition, there was only a small chance she would survive.Nine years later, she will represent Team GB on the athletics world stage after receiving a successful organ transplant. Louise, from Easingwold in North Yorkshire, is due to compete at the World Transplant Games in Germany next week, where she is aiming for a gold medal in shot put.The 32-year-old said: "I want to show my donor's family that it wasn't all in vain."
At just 22 years old and 37 weeks pregnant with twins, her liver went into failure.She was then placed into an induced coma at St James's Hospital in Leeds."I woke up to the knowledge that my son and daughter had passed away at full term and that I'd had an organ transplant," Louise said."I really struggled with the grief but knowing that I had somebody else's organ and somebody else's life, really spurred me on to want to live every day like it's the last."
Ten years on, Louise has married, graduated with a law degree and has two children."I think if I hadn't had the transplant I'd really have struggled to get out of the dark hole that I was in," she admitted."I'm living for more than me, I'm living for my donor and her family who I met this year, I'm living for the children I've had since and I really want to make the world proud and showcase what can be achieved."The organ recipient has spent almost 10 years conquering ultramarathons, raising more than £350,000 for liver-related charities and giving more than 600 talks about organ donation. Despite not always being sporty, Louise also began training in track and field. For the past three years, she has competed in the British Transplant Games in events such as shot put, javelin, discus, long jump and ball throw, picking up several gold medals.
However, it will be the athlete's first time going to the World Transplant Games. "Shot put is my main focus for the World Games, hoping to bring back a gold," she said."It is very competitive, there are some amazing throwers from all different countries this year but I'm quietly confident. "I've been training with my coach Paul Wilson for well over a year now and I hit a PB this weekend."Louise said she owed her success to the woman who donated her liver and whose family she has since met. "I walked into a room and we just hugged and had an instant connection. I felt like I was meeting part of a long-lost family," she said."My donor saved nine people and her husband saved nine people, that's 18 people's lives that wouldn't have carried on without organ donation."She was only 52 years old and I feel a duty to keep on living for her because she gave this gift of life in her final hours. I feel like I need to honour that."Despite there being an opt-out system for organ donation, Louise said it was still important to discuss wishes with family."Your family has the final say so you need to have that conversation to leave your family sure about your decision otherwise your organs may not be donated," she added.
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