Bindhu Brion Xavier, a 51-year-old nurse from Manchester, performed CPR on her husband Brion after he collapsed from a severe brain haemorrhage, and her quick actions meant his organs could be donated, saving three lives.
On November 16, 2014, Brion first complained of a headache in the early afternoon, for which Bindhu gave him paracetamol and ibuprofen. By 11pm, he complained of pain at the back of his neck, prompting Bindhu to call an out-of-hours GP.
Emergency Response
While on the phone, Bindhu heard a “snoring noise” and turned to find her husband unconscious, with his tongue blocking his airway. She immediately began CPR, and paramedics arrived within minutes to perform further resuscitation before rushing him to Wythenshawe Hospital.
Brion stayed in intensive care for three days before brainstem testing confirmed a severe bleed meant his brain could no longer support life. Bindhu was told that her quick CPR response allowed Brion's organs to be donated, saving three people's lives, including both kidneys and his liver.
Advocacy for Organ Donation
Although the UK now operates an opt-out system for organ donation, Bindhu advocates for organ, blood and stem cell donation, particularly among ethnic minority communities. She said, “One day Brion was fine and we were all together, the next day he was in hospital with a brain haemorrhage. We don’t know what’s around the corner, but Brion’s death has drilled into me that… unless we talk about (organ donation) and make it a normal conversation in people’s households, we won’t get anywhere with this.”
Bindhu and Brion, both originally from India, married in February 2003 and had two children, Austin, 22, and Ashlene, 18. Bindhu said Brion's health was “good” because they enjoyed walking together, and he “never needed to go” to doctors.
Tests Were Fine
Every two years, they had full screening tests when visiting India, and all of Brion's came back “fine” a month before. When Brion complained of a headache at around 2pm, Bindhu assumed it might be a seasonal cold or flu and gave him pain relief. By the time she left for her night shift as an ICU nurse at 7.30pm, the headache persisted.
At around 11pm, during a break, Bindhu asked her manager if she could go home to check on him, something she had “never done” before. She found Brion sitting on their bed in the dark, squinting in the light, and complaining of neck pain. After checking for a stiff neck and taking his temperature, which was normal, she noticed “beads of sweat” on his forehead and decided to call an out-of-hours GP.
Heard a Snore
Bindhu said, “As I was kneeling beside him and relaying information to the doctor… I suddenly heard a snore and when my gaze fell on his face, he had collapsed and was unresponsive. That ‘snore’ was from his tongue blocking his airway… then I felt his pulse and it was going down.”
She called 999, and paramedics rushed Brion to the hospital where she works. Over three days, doctors found he had a grade 5 subarachnoid haemorrhage, a rare type of stroke causing bleeding on the brain. After brainstem testing on the third day, the decision was made to take him off life support, but not before Bindhu disclosed Brion's wishes to donate his organs.
“I believe I was supposed to come home that day in order to preserve his organs for someone else,” Bindhu said. “When I told the consultant to call the organ donation specialist nurses in, she got up from her seat and hugged me.”
Bindhu has received cards from recipients whose lives were changed by Brion's organ donations.
Grief Becomes Action
Bindhu has become involved in Upahaar, a charity initiative by her friend Agimol Pradeep, which has registered more than 10,000 organ and stem cell donors. She encourages people of colour to register as blood and stem cell donors, as only 11% of people registered through the NHS Stem Cell Donor Registry are from ethnic minorities, and fewer than 5% of blood donors in the last year were from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
“Organ and stem cell donation can be a gift of life for someone,” Bindhu said. “I can’t think of a better gift than that.”
