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Raising money and awareness about organ donation since she was born.
When Lottie was born, her liver (the organ that helps to break down the chemicals that your blood carries), stopped working in the way that it should, and she became very sick. Lottie was seen by doctors all over the country – in Torquay, Exeter, Bristol, and Birmingham. They agreed that for Lottie to become fully healthy again she would need a liver transplant, and she needed it very soon. Doctors said that without a liver transplant, Lottie would only survive two more weeks. 15 days later, Lottie’s life was saved by a complete stranger who donated their liver to her. Lottie was the youngest person ever to successfully receive a liver transplant, impressing everyone with her resilience and bravery.
On the day that Lottie received her transplant, her older brother Daniel signed the organ donor register. He had seen the amazing impact that organ donation had on Lottie’s life and wanted to give others this amazing gift of life after he died.
Tragically, Lottie’s older brother died three years later in a terrible car accident. But his amazing legacy lived on when his organs were donated, saving the lives of 6 people.
Having now seen both sides of organ donation – as someone who received a donated organ, and someone who’s loved one donated their organs – more than ever, Lottie felt immense gratitude for her donor. She wanted to do something to say a huge thank you to donors and their families. Lottie was asked to speak to the Board Of Directors at Torbay and South Devon Hospital and explained that she wanted to raise money for a memorial to be built at the hospital to remember donors and their families. Lottie has been working tirelessly and creatively to raise £10,000 to cover the costs of the memorial. She has sold homemade apple juice, rallied friends together to sell coffee and cakes, sold CDs of a song written about her, spoken on TV, donates half of her weekly pocket money, organised a dance-a-thon and a school-wide colour run and much more! So far Lottie has raised over £6000 as well as raising awareness of organ donation too! And, on the 14th of February 2023, Torbay and South Devon Hospital decided to make Lottie an honorary director to thank her for her amazing work.
Lottie is a shining example of the amazing things that can be achieved if you push yourself out of your comfort zone and encourage hundreds and thousands of people to join you in making a difference to the lives of so many. Looking back, she says ‘It was a teeny-weeny bit scary to begin with, but what makes me speak a lot is a little bit of confidence and support from my family… I am really proud of myself.’
