Organ Donation Week: Tim would have wanted to help others

A dad who spent his life supporting others was able to continue helping people after his death thanks to his family’s decision to donate his organs.

Tim Sells, 47, died at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate last month after suffering a cardiac arrest while working out in a gym.

Fellow gym-goers performed CPR and an ambulance was on the scene within minutes but his brain had been without oxygen for too long and he died three days later, surrounded by his family.

Tim’s fiancé Lisa Goodger, mum to their two children, said the decision to allow his organs to be donated made sense, although the couple had never discussed the subject.

She said: “I had one of the donor cards many years ago, but we never spoke about it.

“It was a decision I made with his sisters and we all agreed. He didn’t need his organs any more but they were still perfectly fine, so why not help someone else?

“Tim was kind, funny, and very intelligent, and I know he would have approved. We were always proud of him, but we are even more proud now.”

Specialist organ donation nurse Simon Lawrence helped ensure Cody, 13, and Demi, 10, understood what was happening. Tim’s liver and both his kidneys were given to patients waiting for a transplant.

Lisa, 50, said: “My advice to other families would be this.

“You know the pain you are going through because you have lost a loved one. Think of the people that need that organ, that might save their life and stop someone else going through this pain. The agony we are having to go through may help someone else.”

Tim, who lived in Herne Bay, was a football coach for Whitstable Town FC and worked as a football development manager for Millwall FC.

He and Lisa were together for 15 years after meeting at the Monument pub in Whitstable, where she was working and he was a member of their football team.

She said: “Tim helped a lot of people, and ran programmes for disadvantaged children. He always saw the best in people.

“He knew a lot of people in many different communities and I have heard so many stories of how he supported people which has been really comforting.

“Losing him was so sudden, we are all still in shock. It feels like we have been transported to a different life.

“The trauma affects everything, but you have to carry on, with all the pain and upset and overwhelm.”

Players at Whitstable Town FC wore t-shirts printed with Team Tim for their warm up, and held a minute of applause in his memory before their next game. Tim’s daughter Demi was also invited to blow the whistle to start the game.

Lisa said: “There has been so much love for Tim and for us.

“His life and his death have had an impact. He was as fit as a fiddle and it shows you never know what is round the corner – this could happen to anyone.

“But he has been able to help other people and that is what he would have wanted.”

This week is Organ Donation Week and the chance to raise awareness of the need for organs – more than 8,000 people are currently waiting for a transplant. You can register your decision to donate your organs online at https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-your-decision/ – please also speak to your family about your wishes.