Brave Amy continues to inspire
The story of uMhlanga's Amy Miller inspired dozens to register at an organ donor awareness breakfast this morning.
IT has been ten days since uMhlanga’s Amy Miller lost her battle in the search of a new heart. However, family and friends of the brave little girl were still determined to attend an organ donor awareness breakfast at Umhlanga College this morning.
At birth, Amy was diagnosed with hypolplastic left heart syndrome. She survived three open-heart surgeries, the first of which was done when she was only six days old. However, a heart transplant was the only treatment that could ultimately have saved the life of the Umhlanga College Pre-Primary pupil.
In October, her parents made a desperate appeal to the public to register as donors in a bid to not only find a heart for Amy, but also to raise awareness surrounding organ donation. Since then she has become an inspiration and spokesperson for organ donation awareness.
However, Amy died on Tuesday, 17 November after her condition slowly began to deteriorate.
“We are blown away by the support we have received from friends and family. Today I was supposed to tell you about her brave battle, but instead we are mourning for our Amy. Through her story, we hope to change the perception and rate of organ donation in South Africa, to prevent this sadness from happening to another family,” said Amy’s mother, Natasha.
“Amy was born with a broken heart. That was unavoidable. But she died because she did not get a donor heart, and that was avoidable,” she continued.
Natasha went on to say that her daughter lived a full life and taught them all not to take a single second for granted.
The Millers, including younger sister, Layla, have signed up as donors and encourage the community to follow suit. Following her passing, Amy, who was also a donor, managed to restore the sight of an organ recipient.
Henk Goris, an Organ Donor Foundation volunteer, at the event said dozens of people had registered during the course of the day.
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