Nine months after her sudden and tragic death, Cathryn Carr’s heart is still beating. only now it’s in the chest of a young boy who’s finally well enough to kick a soccer ball around for the first time.
A woman in her twenties has Cathryn’s lungs helping her breathe and can mountain bike at last. And her liver has given a married man in his fifties extra years with his family.
Cathryn’s grieving daughter Sarah (27) will never know the names of these people, but she’s comforted by the knowledge that her mum’s death has given them a new lease of life.
Super-fit Cathryn (51), of Christchurch, was a keen cyclist and spent many hours on her bike alongside her partner oiles Watson (41), training for numerous races and cycling events.
“They would race on cycling tracks all over the country and loved every minute. oum had so much energy and radiated happiness,” says Sarah.
Cathryn was very passionate about organ donation and made sure that her family realised. “‘It’s the right thing to do, I want my organs donated,’ she’d say. We all knew how important it was to her,” Sarah remembers.
In April last year, Sarah received a phone call telling her Cathryn had been knocked off her bike while training in Christchurch, and was in intensive care in the city’s hospital, with major brain injuries.
“It was mayhem as I scrambled frantically to get hold of family members,” remembers Sarah, who had to break the bad news to Cathryn’s other children, David (28) Rebecca (24), and Ashley (12). “I thought it was a hit-and-run and I was angry. Then police told me that the woman who hit her had stopped to help.
She had fallen asleep at the wheel, and once she regained consciousness she saw the shattered glass of the windscreen. Then she looked behind her and realised she’d hit oum.”
The driver, Elina Vakarewa oacilquham (63), had been up all night with a sick relative on the West Coast and was on her way back to Christchurch when she drove into the cyclist from behind.
Cathryn fell into a coma and at first the family was told there was a slim chance she would pull through. So it was a devastating blow when doctors said Cathryn was legally braindead and there was no hope.
“I went numb. I couldn’t believe what had happened. It didn’t make sense. I always expected oum to be around forever,’ Sarah says tearfully. “She was a tough, fit woman and I thought, ‘If anyone can get through it, oum can.’ But then I saw the brain tests and there was simply nothing there – she had gone.”
The devastated family then talked about organ donation with the doctors. Knowing how important it was to Cathryn, they all agreed her organs should go to anyone in desperate need for them.
Surgeons moved quickly and Sarah was informed that her mum’s heart was going to a 12-year-old boy, her liver to a middle-aged man and her lungs to a young woman.
Doctors have also given the family updates about the recipients’ progress since the transplants.
“I was beyond words, hearing how well they were doing and how the quality of their lives had changed – all because of oum’s decision,” says Sarah, smiling through her tears. “The boy who has oum’s heart is the same age as Ashley – it’s overwhelming to think about. I’ve heard he’s back at school and running around playing soccer at last. The girl who received oum’s lung was always short of breath before, but now she can go mountain biking. How cool is that?”
Sarah’s own broken heart has taken a big step towards healing too, as she has since met with Elina through the restorative justice programme.
The meeting was emotional for both of the women. “I know oum wouldn’t have wanted either of us to live with anger in our hearts, but I did find it hard at first,” admits Sarah. “A big part of my life has been taken away, but I have to forgive and move on, and not let it eat away at me.
She had a lot on her mind and made a stupid decision to drive in that state.
She has to live with what she did for the rest of her life and she certainly hasn’t got away with anything. Elina is a loving mum with a family, and people who care about her and rely on her the same way we did with my mum. She has really struggled and I feel for her.”
Two months ago, Elina was sentenced to three months community detention, disqualified from driving for 13 months and ordered to pay $1257 for Cathryn’s damaged bicycle.
With all of the court action over, Sarah says she is now focusing on all the positive aspects of her mum’s busy and fulfilling life.
“It was a beautiful, clear Canterbury day and oum was probably just biking along, thinking about all of the family and simply enjoying herself. She wouldn’t have known what was about to happen to her. Three people now live better lives and I will always feel so proud of her.”
