A mother has been able to hold her late daughter's hand once more after meeting the woman who received it in a limb transplant. Jackie Kirwan, 65, said her daughter Georgie Peterson would be 'over the moon' to know she had made such a difference to someone's life.
Heartbreaking Loss and Generous Decision
Georgie, 33, from Liverpool, died in August 2025 following a long-term serious illness that led to debilitating seizures. She had been on the organ donation registry since the age of 17. After her death, Jackie agreed to donate her limbs, including her left hand, which went to Kim Smith.
Kim Smith, 64, lost her hands and feet due to sepsis in 2017 while on holiday in Spain. She received Georgie's left hand in a transplant operation last August. The two women decided to meet earlier this year after Kim wrote to her donor's family, describing the experience as 'very emotional'.
Emotional Reunion
Speaking at their second reunion, Jackie said: 'We referred to Georgie as our human sunshine. Her opinion was that the body is what you live in and it's the soul that's important. I'd decided that if Georgie's donor recipient got in touch, I would meet them. Meeting Kim was unreal. We were both crying and she told me she was forever grateful and she would look after her hand forever.'
Kim added: 'It is extremely rare for a donor's family and the recipient to meet. I wrote a letter of thanks six weeks after my surgery but a thank you never seems quite enough. In the letter, I said I'd love to meet my donor's family and in February, I had a reply from Jackie. We met for the first time at the end of March and it was very emotional. I didn't think I was nervous until she walked through the door and I was shaking like a leaf. But we chatted like we'd known each other for years. It was lovely. It's so nice that we're still in touch.'
Georgie's Battle with Rare Brain Disorder
Georgie had been diagnosed with a rare brain disorder called periventricular nodular heterotopia (PVNH), where neurons fail to migrate properly during development and form clumps. This condition causes focal and often drug-resistant epilepsy. It was diagnosed after she completed her A-Levels.
Jackie, a cleaner, said: 'Everybody thought Georgie was great but she believed she was a burden. She struggled with eczema, asthma, and depression while her only symptoms of PVNH were seizures and being hypermobile. Growing up, she used to bite her tongue, randomly wet herself, and suffered from a lot of headaches. A week before her A-Levels she had a massive seizure which we thought was exam stress. But three months later, she had another one and was referred for tests. Those childhood symptoms were actually seizures all along.'
Georgie, who was close to her sisters Steph and Sammi, went to university and earned a degree in English. She loved dancing, the gym, and swimming. However, her epilepsy was so severe that she was unable to drive, work, or use public transport on her own.
Final Days and Donation
Doctors implanted electrodes in her brain in 2023 to determine which part was causing the seizures, and she underwent further surgery last year. But in May 2025, her seizures increased. Just a few months later, Jackie found her collapsed in the bathroom. She said: 'I thought she was asleep at first. But her brain had been starved of oxygen and from the way she was positioned, we think she'd got up and had a seizure. Despite everything, her theory was always: I'd rather it was me than have anybody else suffer from this.'
Georgie passed away on August 25, 2025, after three days in hospital. When a donation nurse spoke with Jackie, she was surprised to learn that limbs were an option for donation. She said: 'It was the easiest decision to agree to the organ donation. Georgie had joined the register when she was 17 but I never realised families still had to sign on their behalf. The nurse asked me about Georgie's limbs and I stopped for a moment. But Georgie had said it was the soul that was important and I agreed. You don't get to know where the donations go due to patient confidentiality. But I later received a letter from Kim, thanking me and asking to meet. My first thought was that I could meet her and hold Georgie's hand. But then I realised that was wrong as it is Kim's hand now - not Georgie's. I think Georgie would be over the moon if she knew what it had done for Kim.'
Kim's Journey and Advocacy
Kim Smith lost all her limbs after contracting a UTI and suffering from sepsis while on holiday in Alicante, Spain in 2017. She was later put on a UK waiting list for a double hand transplant and received a new, working left hand in August last year. The former hairdresser initially underwent a 14-hour double hand transplant operation, but sadly the right hand was not successful. She has now become naturally left-handed, despite her right being her dominant hand before.
Now an ambassador for Sepsis Research, she enjoyed her first Christmas with her new limb last year and said Georgie had given her a 'wonderful gift'. Jackie and Kim are keen to continue raising awareness of both sepsis and epilepsy, and to keep Georgie's name alive.
