Mum of Rotorua teen organ donor encourages families to talk

Rotorua resident Nikki Heath, the mum of a teenage heart donor, is encouraging families to talk about organ donation. Photo / Laura Smith

Rotorua teen Josh Heath died in 2021 — but his kidneys, liver, pancreas and lungs helped save lives. It’s Organ Donation NZ Thank You Day on Saturday — and his mother shares why she thinks more families should talk about donating.

Josh Heath’s family were told the 19-year-old saved six lives.

Among them was, quite likely, Jack Church — now an Invictus Games gold medallist.

He won that medal with Josh’s heart pumping in his chest.

The Heath family made the difficult decision to donate Josh’s organs while grieving.

Josh’s mother, Nikki, is now encouraging families to talk about organ donation.

“Now I realise how important it is to have that conversation.”

The Heaths, their decision, and how Josh’s heart still beats

Nikki Heath is speaking out two years after she and Church first shared how they came to know each other.

Nikki’s husband, Spencer, was at home with Covid-19 and read an NZ Herald article about a 25-year-old about to run the Hawke’s Bay Marathon after a heart transplant.

That man was Royal New Zealand Navy leading physical training instructor Jack Church.

Josh had died in a crash on Te Ngae Rd months earlier and the date of his organ donation matched the day Church received his new heart.

There were only 14 heart transplants in 2021. The Heaths believed Church had Josh’s heart but organ donation privacy rules mean it will never be confirmed.

Church met the Heaths in 2022 and they catch up at least yearly.

Spencer and Nikki Heath meeting Jack Church, who is believed to have been given their son's heart.

Heath recalled when her son got his driver’s licence and he asked if he should tick the donor box.

“You might as well”, she told him.

“And I probably didn’t think anything of it after that.”

It’s different for the Heaths now, though. They talk about it as a family.

Their decision was not easy but she can see how it has changed people’s lives.

Heath said doctors told Church he was given the “Rolls-Royce of hearts”.

“I think Josh would be quite proud.

“He was always quite a giving person, so it kind of fits.”

Jack Church won the 100m sprint at the 2023 Invictus Games, with Josh Heath's heart in his chest. Photo / Supplied

A man who received Josh’s pancreas and kidney wrote to the Heaths saying how much life the gift had given him with his children. Josh’s other kidney went to a man of similar age.

His lungs went to a middle-aged man. A baby girl in Melbourne and a middle-aged woman got his liver.

“It’s nice knowing, too, that some of Josh is still out there, you know, that he’s still kind of alive, even though he’s not.”

She valued the connection the family had with Church.

“You kind of think, gosh, they [Church’s family] could have ended up going through what we went through with Josh if we hadn’t said yes. And just what he’s gone on to achieve, you know, he’s so grateful.”

Church was also grateful for the good relationship he had with the Heaths.

As for his winning gold in the Invictus Games 2023 100m sprint, he said he loved the experience.

“Unreal to be a part of that kaupapa, met some amazing people with amazing stories and I can’t wait for the next time an opportunity opens up for me to do the games again.”

The situation with organ donation

When someone dies, lots of things need to align for feasible organ donation.

Time, place, and cause of death all impact.

Organ donation is only possible when a person is on a ventilator in an intensive care unit (ICU) after either brain death or a major brain injury that has caused circulatory death.

Less than 2% of all deaths happen this way.

In the past five years, eight donors were from Rotorua Hospital.

Organ Donation NZ teams work with all 24 ICUs nationally, to facilitate organ and tissue donation following brain death.

Organ Donation New Zealand teams work with all 24 ICUs in New Zealand, including in Rotorua, which can facilitate organ and tissue donation following brain death. Photo / Andrew Warner

Fewer potential donations come from people with circulatory death and these donations need to happen via 15 of 24 hospital ICUs — of which Rotorua is one.

Kidneys were the most commonly donated organ because each donor usually had two.

Donor co-ordinator Sue Garland said talking with family and whānau now meant they would know what to do if a loved one died.

“There are resources at donor.co.nz to help you consider, decide and share your wishes.”

She thanked donors and their families for their “incredible gift”.

Families dealt with intense shock and grief when potential donors are in ICU.

“You know, 24 hours ago, the family member was potentially fit and healthy ... and so for them to make the decision that they do is often just profound, that has such a deep and meaningful impact on the transplanted people at the end point.”

She appreciated the Rotorua medical staff who talked with families from the initial bad news to whether a patient could be a donor.

A family can refuse organ donation even if a patient has indicated on their driver’s licence they want to be a donor.

Garland said a patient’s decision had never been overridden during her eight years in the job.

But families struggled when they did not know what their loved one wanted.

“What we find that those family members who do know what their loved one wants, whether it be yes or no for donation, they generally always go with it and that’s really meaningful for them.”

Donors are “grateful every day” but the thank you day was a reminder to pause and express gratitude to donors, their families and those involved in the process.