Organ donation: Knowing that my wife's death saved five lives helps with the pain of losing her-UK

Mirror News | By Boudicca Fox-Leonard
After the mum of his four children died in childbirth, grieving Steve Carter faced a tough decision

As Steve Carter looks around the table at his four beautiful children he can’t help but feel a stab of pain at what his wife Denise is missing out on.

Because although she doted on her first three children â€" precious boys Cameron, Ethan and Aaron â€" Denise never knew she’d had a longed-for little girl, Leah, as she died from a massive brain haemorrhage just minutes after giving birth to her.

In the first few months after the loss of his wife, Steve says one of the main things that kept him going, apart from his children, was knowing that in her death Denise had saved the lives of others.

“I agreed to Denise’s organs being donated and although I was utterly devastated at losing my wife it is one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made,” says Steve, 39.

Being a widower with four children was something he could never have imagined. The couple had met in Sydney, Australia while they were both travelling.

“From the moment I saw her I knew she was my soul mate,” recalls Steve. “I was 25, Denise was 29, and we ended up working for the same sales company.”

The couple decided to stay in Sydney for a while and moved in together there. They returned to Denise’s native Northern Ireland when their visas expired.

“There was no question that I wouldn’t go,” says Steve. “I knew I’d met the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

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