Organs Donated by Basildon Woman save Six Lives after Fatal Collision
BASILDON, Essex – The organs of Abigail Harvey, a 21-year-old woman from Basildon, Essex, have given a second chance at life to six people following her death in a road traffic collision, her mother has revealed during Organ Donation Week. Amanda Harvey honored her daughter’s previously expressed wish to donate her lungs, heart, liver, pancreas, and one kidney.
Abigail died on November 3, 2017, after her Audi was struck by a lorry on the Dartford Crossing in Kent while she was travelling to work as an office clerk. The tragedy spurred a decision that has now resulted in six individuals receiving life-saving transplants. “We’d had a passing conversation about donation over the dinner table and Abi said she would donate,” Amanda Harvey said. “I am absolutely, 100% glad that we agreed with donation. If you can save somebody’s life, why wouldn’t you?”
The news comes as the NHS highlights the ongoing need for organ donors.Over the past decade, 98 people in Essex have either died or been removed from the transplant waiting list without receiving a transplant. Anthony Clarkson, director of organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, stated, “It’s really concerning to see the numbers of people waiting for a transplant slowly rising… People are dying needlessly every day because of the shortage of organs for transplant.” He urged residents of the East of England to register their decision to donate, noting it “only takes two minutes.”
A 2020 law change in England established an ‘opt-out’ system, making all adults potential donors unless they explicitly register their objection. Though, families are still consulted before any donation proceeds.
viorel Sandulache, 26, was convicted in 2019 of causing Abigail’s death by risky driving and sentenced to nine years in prison at Maidstone Crown Court.The court heard Sandulache was distracted by watching a TV series on his phone at the time of the collision. In a victim impact statement,Amanda Harvey described the loss as having “brutally and senselessly changed [their] lives forever.”
