A heart transplant received by a young girl from Harrogate in 1994 opened the door to almost three decades of wonderful experiences for her whole family.

Now, as they mourn Lynda’s death 28 years after the operation, parents Kerry and Brian Morrison are urging everyone to donate organs and share their wishes with their loved ones, in order to give the gift of life to others.

Lynda Morrison was just seven when she fell ill in 1994, shortly after she had moved from Kent to Harrogate with her parents and three sisters.

She was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy caused by a virus and told she would need a heart transplant.

Lynda’s health deteriorated rapidly and she was soon put on the European urgent list for a suitable donor organ.

Two false starts saw the family set out for the transplant unit at Newcastle, only to be told the operation could not go ahead.

Brian said:

“The first time, we turned round at Durham services. The second time we got all the way to the hospital. They radioed ahead and closed the Tyne Tunnel so we could get through.”

Then, in late 1994, Kerry and Brian received a call to say a heart was coming from France and they made the journey by ambulance to the Freeman Hospital.

This time, the operation went ahead successfully. Kerry said:

“We don’t know who gave the heart – just that it came from France. We wrote a letter to the donor’s family and our friend translated it into very good French. We sent it off, but we never got a reply.”

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Once the initial period of checks and treatments was complete, Lynda settled into a routine of three-monthly visits to the Freeman Hospital. Slowly, she returned to a more normal life – with a few unusual features thrown in.

Shortly after she moved from Oatlands Junior School to St Aidan’s High School, an opportunity came up. Kerry said:

“In her first term at St Aidan’s, they wanted a flower girl to meet the Queen when she was opening the Sun Pavilion. [Head of year 7 and family friend] John Wood put her forward.”

Lynda was selected and presented the Queen with a bouquet during the visit. Kerry said she took the whole thing in her stride.

“Lynda was pretty unfazed about anything like that.”

A keen swimmer, Lynda joined the disability swimming squad at the Hydro and, for 12 years, took part in the British Transplant Games.

Lynda Morrison, standing third from the right, was part of the Freeman Children’s Transplant Team

In 2004, she was given the opportunity to meet the Australian swimming squad, including Ian Thorpe. Her parents said she was more excited about that meeting than when she met the Queen.

In 2006, as a result of the medication she was taking, Lynda’s kidneys began to fail. Fortunately, her mum proved to be a match and was able to become a donor for her daughter.

The operation improved Lynda’s health and, removing the need for frequent dialysis, gave her back her freedom.

Still keen on sport, Lynda volunteered at the London Paralympics in 2012, staying with friends nearby and catching the train to the Olympic park each day.

A trip to Rome in 2014 was made extra special after Kerry booked tickets to see Pope Francis speak. When a member of staff heard it was the 20th anniversary of Lynda’s heart transplant, he arranged for them both to receive a blessing from the Pope.

Lynda, as always, was pleased but unfazed by the honour.

Lynda Morrison at the European Heart and Lung Transplant Games in the Netherlands

She was a keen traveller, going to France, Sweden, Lithuania and Poland for the European Heart and Lung Games – often happily leaving her parents at home to go with her fellow transplant team members.

She also enjoyed family holidays around the world, most recently to Venice in the spring with older sister Deborah and their mum.

In May this year, Lynda became ill with an infection and was admitted to York Hospital. She never recovered enough to come home – though that didn’t stop the family getting permission to bring Leo, her beloved cat, to visit her.

Lynda died on September 15, aged 35.

Her heart, transplanted 28 years before, was still going strong until the end.

Her funeral was held earlier this month at St Mark’s Church where she had been a regular member of the congregation. It saw many friends gather to celebrate all she had been able to achieve and to support her family as they grieved.

Lynda’s spare time was devoted to the Cancer Research UK shop where she worked for 14 years and her colleagues, many of whom attended the funeral, have been given her prized collection of Harry Potter memorabilia.

Donations from the funeral were split between Cancer Research UK and Heart Research UK.

Members of the Harrogate Network for Organ Donation Support including Lynda, centre in the white jacket, and mum Kerry, second from left

Lynda and Kerry set up the Harrogate Network for Organ Donation Support a few years ago and a tree was planted in the Valley Gardens in 2020 to mark the 25th anniversary of Lynda’s operation.

The network itself is relatively small, as so few people have had organ donations, but Kerry said its impact is wider than they realised:

“The main idea was for people facing the need for a transplant to talk to people and get support.

“Last week, we went to the bank to close her account and the lady looked at the death certificate and said she knew about the tree. When her mother died in the 1980s, her organs had been donated. This lady said she had seen about the tree and been to visit it.

“These things you find out by chance. I said ‘people don’t talk about it much’. She said ‘I think maybe younger people do’.”

Following Lynda’s death, her parents and sisters are keen to continue to spread the word about the value of organ donation and its impact on individuals and families, long beyond the operation.

They said they were forever indebted to the donor and their family, and to the Freeman Hospital for both the transplant and the many years of care afterwards. Brian added:

“It has given us a family life. We were sat down in York Hospital on the Friday before she died and they said there wasn’t much hope for her. The doctor was very sympathetic but it was all a bit rushed.

“I said, ‘we had this talk 28 years ago in Killingbeck Hospital. She’s packed in an awful lot in those 28 years’.

“That is what organ donation really means to people and to families.”