'Maisie would've done so much good in the world. She's not here anymore - but we are going to keep her memory alive'

The heartbroken parents of a teenage girl who tragically died just two weeks after complaining of a tummy ache have vowed to 'keep her memory alive'.

'Bubbly and bright' Maisie Almond, 14, from Stalybridge, who had had plans to backpack around the world with her friends, lost her short battle with acute liver failure on October 2.

She died just a day after a life-saving organ donor was found for her. She had been rushed to Leeds Infirmary from Tameside after blood tests revealed that her tummy pains began after she had developed liver failure and needed surgery to survive.

READ MORE Devastation as girl, 14, dies two weeks after complaining of tummy ache

But her parents Kathryn and Stuart said she 'deteriorated rapidly' and that the teenager would have been 'too weak' to undergo the gruelling 12 hour procedure, which would have also required large amounts of donated blood. She died in the early hours of October 2.

"The senior consultants said she really needed that donor liver the next day and that it could've been a different outcome," dad Stuart told the Manchester Evening News.

"Although she received a donor, it came too late. She did go down to the operation theatre where the liver was waiting - but she wouldn't have survived it, it was 48 hours too late."

Following Maisie's death, Kathryn and Stuart are raising important awareness about the need for blood donations and for people to have conversations with their loved ones about organ donations in the hope it will save somebody else's life.

They have vowed to 'keep her memory alive' and are now raising money for various charities and organisations and the profile of organ and blood donation. A fundraising page has also been set up.

"Acute liver failure can happen within days with no warning signs," mum Kathryn said. "There's nothing they [the doctors] could have done or given her any sooner. She wouldn't have made the donor list any sooner and wouldn't have survived.

"It was extremely rare. She had no underlying health conditions, she was totally fit and went to the gym four times a week. She was a picture of health."

According to NHS figures released last month for Organ Donation Week, there are over 850 people currently waiting for an organ transplant in the north west alone.

The change in the law now means that it’s assumed that when someone dies in circumstances where they could be a donor, that they agree to donate if they haven’t officially opted out - but families are consulted and can override the decision. Last year in the UK, 4,651 people waiting for an organ transplant had their lives saved by the 1,510 deceased organ donors and their families who signed up to the register.

And, every year, it's estimated the NHS need around 143,000 new donors to ensure it has the right mix of blood groups to meet patient demand.

Mum Kathryn said: "I turned 50 in August and had never given blood. So many people don't give blood for a variety of reasons, but off the back of this there has been a surge - around 60 people I know have signed up. It can make such a difference if everyone does that and gives just an hour of their time.

"It's really important to us that we raise the profile of organ donation. In England everyone is opted in, however the family still have the ultimate decision. This is about people making the decision to join the list but being aware and having that difficult conversation with their families.

"We are utterly devastated. I don't even know how we are getting up in a morning. But this is helping us. If we can raise awareness about organ donation and it saves just one person, it's worth it. You never know when you're going to need these things and your life is turned upside down in a heartbeat.

"We want to keep the memory of Maisie alive, and she would be delighted with this. She would've done so much good in the world. She's not here anymore but we are going to do what we can to get these messages across."

Paying tribute to their daughter, a Year 10 student at All Saints Catholic College in Dukinfield, Kathryn and Stuart said: "She was a regular teenager who was bright and bubbly and smiling all the time."