One of the last pictures taken of Lisa Orsi while on holiday before she tragically fell ill and died
THE father of Lisa Orsi – whose organs saved several lives of 50 people in the wake of her tragic after climbing an Asian volcano – has backed a commemorative sculpture which will the community to sign up to be an organ donor.
Dennis Orsi and his family are preparing to mark the second anniversary of the Derry woman’s death.#
Tomorrow, Monday, March 6, Lisa would have been 22.
Lisa fell critically ill while on holiday in Indonesia two years ago.
She suffered from extreme altitude sickness while climbing a volcano.
Mr Orsi described the decision by Derry and Strabane Council and the Western Trust to place a permanent sculpture in St Columb’s Park in the Waterside in tribute to organ donors such as Lisa as “wonderful”.
The sculpture is part of a wider plan to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first heart transplant operation, performed in Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town in 1967.
Mr Orsi said: “I think this is a wonderful idea that will mark publicly the incredible contribution made by organ donors in saving lives, and also enhancing the quality of life for many more.
“I cannot begin to describe how immensely proud I am that my fantastic daughter, despite her young age, had already made her wishes to become an organ donor clear before her death.
“While I would do anything to have Lisa still with us, it is a comfort to know that so many other families have been spared grief because of her brave decision.
“I would absolutely encourage all families to have that conversation – difficult and all as it might be – because if and when the time comes, knowing that you are carrying out the wishes of the person you love does ease the burden.”
Karen McFarland, the Council’s director of Health and Communities, said: “There is no greater gift that can be given than that of the gift of life to someone.
“Those who have saved lives through organ and tissue donation and transportation should be recognised and supported in our city and district and a prominent sculpture in the city marking this is appropriate.
“St Columb’s Park is a place of beauty and tranquillity, a perfect setting for the new sculpture.”
Teresa Molloy, chairwoman of the Organ Donation Committee at the Western Trust, said donors should be publicly and formally recognised within our hospitals or ideally in public spaces like St Columb’s Park.
She said: “Approximately 7,000 people require an organ transplant annually in the United Kingdom. Sadly three patients per day and 1,000 people per year die before an organ becomes available.
“Therefore, the decision to donate and thereby gift life after death is an act that rightly deserves recognition.”
Lisa’s finals hours were recalled at the inquest.
It reveals how the physiotherapist had been visiting a volcanic crater a Mount Bromo.
She returned to her hostel which was 6,000 feet above sea level and complained to her friends of having an earache and feeling unwell.
Her room-mate revealed that Lisa was making some odd breathing noises.
She was found the following morning lying face-up in a shower and had difficulty opening her eyes.
Lisa was taken to a clinic where a doctor found that her brain had swollen.
She was then flown to Singapore General Hospital where she was diagnosed as suffering from high altitude cerebral oedema – an accumulation of fluid on the brain caused by extreme altitude sickness.
The final cause of death at the inquest was given as hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain.
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