Stranger on grief podcast turned out to be mum of girl whose liver saved my son's life

ARLENE McNab's newborn son Zac cheated death when he received a lifesaving treatment at just five weeks old.

- BY LUCY LAING

But as she listened to a woman on a grief podcast telling of the heartbreak of losing her young girl, Arlene soon worked out the stranger's daughter had saved her son's life.

Mother's instinct told Arlene that Hannah Kealy, who was just two when she suffered a fatal brain injury after falling into a paddling pool, had been her boy's organ donor.

A few days after his birth in June 2022, Zac became unwell and his mother noticed a bruise on his leg.

Placed in intensive care at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, at six days old he was then transferred to Leeds Children's Hospital.

FAILURE

Tests showed he had haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a rare immune disorder triggered by a virus that had led to organ failure.

Arlene, 35, and husband Brian, 44, of Clydebank, near Glasgow, were told his only chance of survival was a liver transplant - and time was running out.

But they were lucky and, in July that year, Zac became one of the youngest babies ever to receive a new liver.

Three years later, in August, as she listened to Marie Kealy talk about the fact Hannah had been an organ donor, Arlene was sure it was her liver that was keeping Zac, three, alive.

Not only did the dates match, but the baby Marie said Hannah had saved had been born premature, like Zac.