Parents of Jemima Layzell, who died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm, want other families to consider organ donation 
 
 A 13-year-old girl who died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm has had her organs transplanted to eight people - the largest number in the history of the organ donation service. 
 
 Jemima Layzell was “lovely – clever, funny, compassionate and creative”, said her mother, Sophy Layzell, 43, a drama teacher from Horton in Somerset. Just a couple of weeks before her sudden collapse in March 2012, the family had a conversation about organ donation because a family friend had died in a car crash. 
 
 “They were on the register but their organs couldn’t be donated because of the circumstances of their death,” said Sophy. “Jemima had never heard of organ donation before and found it a little bit unsettling, but totally understood the importance of it.” 
 
 Her parents found the decision hard, but are glad they made it. Jemima’s heart, small bowel, and pancreas were transplanted into three people. Two people received her kidneys. Her liver was split and transplanted into another two people, while her lungs were transplanted into one patient. 
 
 The eight recipients included five children, who came from all over England. 
 
 Organ donation saves lives. Why don’t more people sign up for it? | Cole Moreton Read more 
 
 Jemima collapsed during the preparations for her mother’s 38th birthday party and died in hospital four days later. A brain aneurysm, rare in a child, is a swelling in an artery wall and there are no symptoms unless it ruptures. When it bursts, it causes a haemorrhage in the brain which can kill or cause lasting damage. 
 
 Her parents set up the Jemima Layzell Trust in her memory to help survivors. “If Jemima had survived, the ruptured aneurysm would have severely affected her communication and the right side of her body,” they say on the trust website. 
 
 Her parents went through clothes and possessions, looking for clues as to why she had died so young. They didn’t find them, but they did discover about 20 diaries and notebooks she had been keeping since she was four years old. These they have turned into a book, called The Draft, sales of which will raise funds for the charity. 
 
 They tell the story of her brief life. 
 
 Saturday 9 July 2011 
 
 Dear Diary 
 
 It is times like this when I sit and wonder ‘where’s my Romeo? What happened to my Prince Charming?’ But then I stop and think, do I really deserve him? 
 
 ... I want to leap out of bed, draw back the curtains and gaze out into the night. 
 
 To lean out the window, sing for my true love, the love I do not yet 
 
 possess and possibly never will. If only I weren’t so afraid. 
 
 Monday 8 August 2011 
 
 Some people say that God can’t exist because if he did he would help all the poor people in the world. 
 
 I object to that. I feel their despair but WE have to help them. They 
 
 are there because we did this to them. They are there because we have a 
 
 wrong to right. They are there to stop us from turning into complete 
 
 monsters before it’s too late. 
 
 One extract even foretells the future: 
 
 Sunday 7 August 2011 
 
 
 
 Anyway I need to write what I think and feel. Not all that you see 
 
 here actually ‘happened’ but it’s still very real to me. I don’t care if 
 
 I let my imagination run away with me! 
 
 Plenty of brilliant artists and writers were mad! In fact it made their work more interesting! Even if they did cut their ears off, commit suicide, run round doing crazy stuff etc etc. People still loved them and their work just the same. And I want to be loved too. I almost feel as though I will never live long enough to become an author, to be married and have a family. 
 
 Her mother, her father, Harvey, 49, the manager of a building company, and her sister, Amelia, aged 17, run the Jemima Layzell Trust, which also promotes organ donation. They are proud that Jemima’s organs helped eight other lives continue. 
 
 “Shortly after Jemima died, we watched a programme about children awaiting heart transplants and being fitted with Berlin Hearts in Great Ormond Street hospital,” said her mother. “It affirmed for us that saying ‘no’ would have been denying eight other people the chance for life, especially over Jemima’s heart, which Harvey had felt uncomfortable about donating at the time. 
 
 “We feel it’s very important for families to talk about organ donation. Every parent’s instinct is to say no, as we are programmed to protect our child. It’s only with prior knowledge of Jemima’s agreement that we were able to say yes.” 
 
 NHS Blood and Transplant is hoping Jemima’s story will encourage more families to have the crucial conversation, because a shortage of donated organs is costing hundreds of lives every year, it says. 
 
 Last year, 457 people died waiting for a transplant, including 14 children. There are 6,414 people on the transplant waiting list including 176 children. 
 
 Anthony Clarkson, of NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “Every donor is special and Jemima’s unique story shows the extraordinary difference a few words can make. Hundreds of people are still dying unnecessarily waiting for a transplant because too many families say no to organ donation. 
 
 “Please tell your family you want to donate, and if you are unsure, ask yourself; if you needed a transplant would you accept one? If so, shouldn’t you be prepared to donate?” 
 
 To join the NHS organ donor register visit organdonation.nhs.uk or contact the 24-hour donor line on 0300 123 23 23. ||||| How Can You Help? 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fundraise 
 
 
 
 You can help us fundraise as equipment, especially hospital equipment is very expensive. 
 
 
 
 
 
 So far people have run marathons, held sports days, latin dancing, and wear a flower days. Every penny adds up, and as we are a small, voluntary charity, every penny goes to children with brain injury. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Our Wear a Flower days are very popular with schools as they can include, face painting, cake decorating as well as competitions like who can make the longest daisy chain, and who can stick the most flowers in their hair! ( See the slide show below). 
 
 
 
 
 
 Buy The Draft 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Draft is Jemima's one and only book that chronicles her life in her own words from between the ages of 8 and 13. 
 
 Buying The Draft spreads Jemima's story and brings awareness for her charity and also profit as the funds are divided 50/50 between the Trust and Jemima's sister Amelia. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Host a Talk / assembly 
 
 
 
 
 
 We are very happy to come and talk to your school or group about our work and can stay with you for anything from 10 minutes an hour. We can focus on brain injury or organisation or both. Please contact us for more details. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ||||| A 13-year-old girl who died of a brain aneurysm has helped eight different people through organ donation - the highest number on record, experts said. 
 
 NHS Blood and Transplant data shows that Jemima Layzell, who died in March 2012 at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, is the only recorded donor in the UK whose solid organs have been transplanted into eight different people. 
 
 The discovery was made after staff began trawling records for donors who had helped the most people. 
 
 A typical donation usually results in 2.6 transplants. 
 
 Jemima, from Horton in Somerset, was a pupil at Taunton School. She collapsed as her family prepared a party for her mother's 38th birthday. She died four days later. 
 
 In total, eight of her organs were donated - her heart, small bowel, pancreas, both kidneys, both lungs, and her liver was split and transplanted into two people.
– Eight people, including five children, have a 13-year-old organ donor to thank for their lives—and that donor has entered the UK record books. The Guardian reports on Jemima Layzell, who collapsed from a brain aneurysm while helping prep for her mom's birthday party in March 2012. Jemima died four days later, just a couple of weeks after she'd had a discussion with her family about organ donation following a car crash that killed a family friend. "Jemima had never heard of organ donation before and found it a little bit unsettling, but totally understood the importance of it," her mom, Sophy, says. And so when Jemima passed away, her parents made the decision to donate her kidneys to two recipients and her lungs to another; her liver was split and transplanted into two people, and her heart, pancreas, and small intestine were transplanted into three others. The NHS Blood and Transplant department says it's the largest number of solid organ recipients from a single donor ever recorded in the UK, per the Telegraph. Jemima's family had been unsure about whether to donate her organs, but a TV program on kids waiting for heart transplants—as well as their past conversation with Jemima on organ donation—changed their minds. "Every parent's instinct is to say no, as we are programmed to protect our children," Sophy Layzell says. "It's only with prior knowledge of Jemima's agreement that we were able to say yes." Other ways the Layzells are honoring her: They've set up the Jemima Layzell Trust to promote organ donation, as well as published The Draft, a compilation of her diary entries found after she died.