'A podcast led me to my son's organ donor'

In a remarkable twist, Arlene McNab realised the stranger talking on a grief podcast was the mum who helped save her baby son's life

- LUCY LAING

Arlene McNab's newborn son Zac cheated death when he received lifesaving treatment at just five weeks old. And as she listened to a woman on a grief podcast talking about the heartbreak of losing her little girl, Arlene made an extraordinary connection – 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 Zac's organ donor.

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

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

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.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

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, just like Zac.