Discuss organ donation with kids, says Sheffield crash victim's mum

The mother of a young road crash victim whose organs helped save three people's lives has called on parents to talk to their children about organ donation.

Dan Robinson died at the age of 15 after he was struck by a van in Sheffield on 26 May 2018.

His kidneys, pancreas and heart were donated and subsequently received by a man, a woman and a young boy.

His mother Debbie Enever said that knowing Dan's organs had saved others' lives was "something to hold on to".

Ms Enever told the BBC that she had already spoken to Dan about being a donor before the crash and she knew he wanted his organs to be donated.

She said: "We talked about it when he was quite little, around nine years old, as I had a friend who died after waiting for a kidney transplant."

Speaking about the day of the crash, Ms Enever said she and Dan had been to see Blood Brothers as he was going to be studying the musical as part of his GCSEs.

"We had a great day out and when we got back in Hillsborough, Dan decided to nip and pick up a fast food snack because he was permanently hungry as a teenager," she said.

"It was the Champions League final that night and when Dan hadn't returned home by half-time and he wasn't responding to my texts I was quite concerned."

Ms Enever was sent to the hospital by police where she was told Dan had suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the crash and it was unlikely he would survive.

Both of Dan's kidneys, his pancreas and his heart were subsequently donated and received by the three patients.

Ms Enever said: "To know that lives have been saved because of Dan is something to hold on to and be happy about."

She said that her message to other parents was to "firstly get some facts, because children are curious".

"Secondly have an honest conversation, because they will most likely get it. It's a conversation about their bodies," she added.

"I think if you have a way in, like if you hear about mine and Dan's story, it gets easier to have that conversation with your children."

Since her son's death, Ms Enever has written a book, Midowed: A Mother's Grief, which focuses on the events leading up to the crash and how she coped with loss in the year after.

She said she coined the word "midowed" to describe a mother who had lost her child.

"I met a friend a few days after Dan died and I didn't know how to explain my situation, so I came up with the word 'midowed'," she said.

"The book is a journal of the first year of loss interwoven with Dan's life stories. It's a chance to introduce the reader to Dan and what's been lost."

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