Mother Holds Daughter's Donated Hand on Stranger's Arm After Fatal Seizure

Jackie Kirwan held her daughter's hand again after meeting the stranger who received it in a transplant.

Georgie Peterson, 33, from Liverpool died last year from a fatal seizure caused by a rare brain condition. She donated her hand to quadruple amputee Kim Smith, who underwent the transplant last autumn.

Jackie, 65, said holding her daughter's hand on Kim's arm had given her huge comfort. "There's a little piece of her still there."

Kim, 64, from Milton Keynes lost all four limbs eight years ago after sepsis from a urinary tract infection. After nearly four years on the waiting list, she called the new hand the most precious gift.

The former hairdresser, now a sepsis awareness campaigner, sent an anonymous thank-you letter through the transplant team at Leeds General Infirmary. The donor family agreed to meet her.

"I just felt I had to say thank you for such an incredible gift," Kim said. "It really has changed my life so much. I've been able to hold my youngest granddaughter's hand... it's life-changing, completely."

Jackie called the meeting amazing. She described Georgie as human sunshine who joined the Organ Donor Register at age 17.

"Throughout the last 16 years, she did many times say, 'I'm not going to have a long life,'" Jackie said.

Georgie had periventricular nodular heterotopia, a rare brain condition that caused cluster headaches and seizures. She wrote a book, Freaks Like Me, and made a podcast about rare diseases.

In February 2025, she had pioneering surgery at Liverpool's Walton Centre to treat the seizures. She died later that year from a fatal nighttime seizure.

Georgie never discussed limb donation with her mother. But when the transplant team approached Jackie, she agreed. "If I'm giving heart, liver, lungs, kidneys... what difference does it make, and it will change someone's life."

Jackie said Georgie would be buzzing to know the difference she made to Kim.

Georgie's older sister Steph, 40, called the meeting bittersweet. "Kim getting Georgie's hand is amazing... but also we had to lose Georgie for that to be possible."

"Georgie would love Kim... she was all for helping people through her book and her podcasts... her life was helping others."

Younger sister Sam, 28, found the gift inspiring but overwhelming amid raw grief.

Kim never expected to meet the donor family. She called the experience absolutely incredible. She and Jackie have met twice and plan to stay in touch.

"We just clicked. I'm glad I like her," Jackie said. "I can't imagine the different emotions if we didn't get on. She's now an honorary scouser."

A spokesperson said organ donation nurses at Leeds can discuss limb donation if families agree to lifesaving transplants, the limbs are a match and close enough to the center.