A BUCKINGHAMSHIRE landlady saved three people's lives after her organs were donated following her death last year.

Maggie Sturgess, landlady at the Derehams Inn, Loudwater, saved three lives after her family opted to donate her kidneys, liver, corneas, heart tissue, skin and bone after she died of a brain haemorrhage aged 61 in November.

Her daughter Lizzie Durning said the family did not get a chance to speak about what her wishes were before she died.

“As a family it was difficult to suddenly find ourselves having to make that decision as well as cope with her death and providing support to other members of the family,” she said.

“Ultimately we decided that organ donation was the right decision.

ALSO READ: 'The greatest landlady we met': Tributes pour in for beloved pub owner after untimely death

“It fitted with mum’s generous nature and we have known people waiting for transplant.

"We are proud of the decision we made, and the lives mum was able to save, but it doesn’t change the fact we wish we had heard it from mum herself.

“Mum was known for her zest for life and generous nature.”

More than 1,000 people have passed on their organs after death in the year since donation laws changed.

Following legislation passed last May, all adults in England are seen as willing to donate their organs unless they opt out or are in one of the excluded groups, but families must also give confirmation.

From the time the change came into force on May 20, 2020, until April 30 this year, 1,021 people had donated their organs and 296 had their consent “deemed” due to not having expressed a decision, according to NHS Blood and Transplant.

John Forsythe, medical director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said the “careful plans” medics had made to introduce the donation law had to be “quickly reset” amid coronavirus.

ALSO READ: New office and flats planned for Berkhampstead Road in Chesham

He said: “In the early days of the pandemic, many of our specialist organ donation nurses volunteered to help care for patients with Covid in intensive care – training and other preparations for the new law had to be fitted around this.

“To see such a positive and heart-warming response from the public, especially those families facing the very worst news, in some of the hardest circumstances, is such an incredible testament to the strength of those families.

“Many have told us how organ donation offered comfort in an otherwise tragic situation.”

Since April 2016, 2,433 people across the UK have died while waiting for an organ transplant.

Similar legislation to England’s opt-out system was introduced in Wales in 2015 and in Scotland in March this year.