'Bright and bubbly' girl, 14, tragically died a day after life-saving organ donor was found

A 'bright and bubbly' 14-year-old girl tragically died of liver failure just a day after a donor was found and a major operation was planned to save her life.

Man City fan Maisie Almond, from Stalybridge, who dreamed of becoming an accountant and had plans to backpack around the world with her friends, lost her short battle on October 2 - just two weeks after first complaining of a tummy ache.

The teenager, described by her parents as 'happy and smiling all the time', underwent multiple tests at Tameside Hospital before it was revealed she had acute liver failure. She was rushed to a specialist unit in Leeds on September 27 but 'rapidly deteriorated' and died five days later.

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Maisie returned home from her charity shop volunteer job, at Willow Wood in Hyde, on September 15 with pains in her tummy. After recently going back to school, her family didn't initially think it was cause for concern.

But that night, after waking up and again suffering from tummy ache, she developed eye jaundice. Her parents Kathryn and Stuart took her to the emergency department for tests to be carried out.

"We thought it was just a tummy bug that goes round school and that, after a day off school, she'd be fine," mum Kathryn told the Manchester Evening News. "We thought it was probably a run of the mill tummy bug, especially with going back after the holidays.

"However, we noticed she was becoming jaundice in her eyes, so we took her to the hospital emergency department on the Monday and from there she had just loads of tests. She became more jaundice. Bloods were taken. They originally thought it was hepatitis but that came back negative too.

"We then very quickly we found ourselves at Leeds Infirmary, which is one of the main liver transplant units in the country. We went there thinking because it was a specialist hospital, she would get the best care. But very quickly it became apparent she was actually in acute liver failure and needed a transplant, which was the only way she'd survive."

Kathryn and Stuart said Maisie was quickly pushed to the top of the donor list after being admitted to the Children's Intensive Care ward at Leeds General Infirmary on September 27. A match donor was found on October 1 and she was taken into theatre at around 11pm.

However, Maisie's deterioration continued and she 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 said.

"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."

"Acute liver failure can happen within days with no warning signs," Kathryn added. "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."

They commended the hospital staff and clinicians for being 'absolutely amazing' and doing 'everything they could' to save Maisie.

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. She was just a great person; she volunteered at Willow Wood each Saturday and she absolutely loved it.

"She just always loved meeting new people and chatting. From the comments after she died we have realised just how much people loved her. She wanted to be an accountant and was looking forward to travelling and backpacking with her friends."

"Her main passion was shopping - she loved the finer things in life did our Maisie. She was a huge Manchester City fan, particularly of Phil Foden, and as a family we are massive fans of St Helens Rugby League so we would go to the matches together."

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.

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.

And, in July, the health service issued an 'amber alert' blood shortage, specifically for the O blood type. 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."

A JustGiving page has also been set up following Maisie's death to support various charities and organisations in memory of the teenager. Donations can be made here.

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.

For more information, or to register your organ donation decision, please visit: www.organdonation.nhs.uk or call 0300 123 23 23. For information on blood donation, visit the NHS website here.