A 16-year-old boy from Braintree, Essex, who died after a severe asthma attack has saved four lives through organ donation, his family has said. Michael McCarthy collapsed at home in November after telling his grandfather, 'I can't breathe, Granddad, I can't breathe.' Despite emergency CPR from his mother and grandfather, and five days on life support in a London hospital, he did not survive.
Michael, a building apprentice who dreamed of becoming a mechanic, had joined the organ donor register when applying for his provisional driving licence. He told his father, 'If I die my soul is going to Heaven but my organs will live on.' His donated heart, pancreas, kidneys and liver were used to save four other people.
His grandfather, also named Michael McCarthy, 59, said: 'It makes me feel good, it's a marvellous thing what he has done. It's a miracle he has managed to save so many lives.' The teenager had suffered a near-fatal asthma attack three years earlier, when he was airlifted to hospital by an East Anglian Air Ambulance piloted by Prince William.
His father, Michael McCarthy, 37, said: 'I think he knew how serious his condition was but he kept everything inside not to worry me and his mother. Some nights I would just stay up and watch him breathing as he slept. He was a beautiful boy.' His sister Kaitlyn, 17, added: 'He was always looking out for me. We were so close, we did everything together.'
