This is the moving moment a woman whose life was saved by an organ transplant met her donor’s mother.
Selwa Mitchell, 39, who suffers from cystic fibrosis (CF), hugged and thanked Kimber Spinks, who made the decision for her 18-year-old daughter Kendall’s organs to benefit someone in need after she died.
The teenager, from Tyler, Texas, was driving home from visiting her sister when her car veered off the road.
She sustained horrific injuries and was placed in a coma, but sadly died five days later.
Mother-of-two Selwa, from Dallas, Texas, was diagnosed with CF – a genetic condition, causing a build-up of mucus in the lungs and digestive system – at the age of three.
By the end of 2015, her lung function had become so impaired, she was placed on the transplant list.
Selwa Mitchell, who was diagnosed with genetic condition cystic fibrosis aged three, desperately needed a lung transplant
Kendall Spinks, 18, whose lungs were donated to Selwa, was placed in a coma after a car crash but tragically did not pull through
Just three months later, Selwa’s own lungs took their last struggling breath, when she received new ones from Kendall.
They boosted her function from to 22 to 96 percent – giving her the gift of life.
‘Kendall was an amazing, beautiful young woman,’ said Selwa. ‘I’m so grateful to receive her lungs.
‘I struggle with the fact that she died, but it means so much that she decided to donate her organs.
‘Meeting her mum and sister was such an emotional moment. Now I hope I can help them to keep Kendall’s light alive.’
Kendall’s mother Kimber Spinks had an emotional meeting with Selwa who received her daughter’s lungs
Battling for breath
Selwa was not expected to reach her seventh birthday.
Fortunately, treatment options improved and determined Selwa went to college, married her property developer husband, Scott, 41, and even had two children – Isabella, 12 and Charles Scott Junior, seven.
‘I’ve defied the odds throughout my life. When you’re told you aren’t going to have a life, you really fight for it,’ she said.
Yet despite medical advancements, people with CF lose two per cent of their lung function every year, and having the disease ‘can feel like drowning from the inside’, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
In late 2015, Selwa’s lung function dropped to 22 percent and, struggling to breathe, she asked to be placed on the organ transplant list to receive new lungs.
‘I was lying in bed and could hear my children opening their Christmas presents in the other room, but couldn’t even go in there, I was so weak.
‘I went to my doctor and said, “I think it’s time. I’m so tired. I can’t fight like I have been,”‘ she explained.
Despite her illness, Selwa married husband, Scott, 41, and had two children – Isabella, 12 and Charles Scott Junior, seven
The 39-year-old received the lung transplant in June last year after a three-month wait
The keen yoga fan had an 8-hour operation to remove her lungs and have Kendall’s lungs transplanted
Able to run
Placed on the transplant list in March last year, it was just over three months before Selwa was called, saying a match had been found.
Rushed to hospital, she had a eight-hour operation to remove her lungs and have Kendall’s lungs transplanted on June 25.
Selwa recovered well, leaving hospital two weeks later.
‘I got into yoga five years ago,’ she said. ‘It’s really important to me, as it’s kept my body so strong, I was able to recover from the transplant really quickly.
‘Most people take months to recover, but I was out of the hospital in two weeks. Even when I was really sick and wanted to lie in bed all day, I got on my mat, so my body didn’t deteriorate.’
After the transplant, Selwa’s lung function reached 96 percent for the first time in years, enabling her to run along the beach and breathe normally.
Selwa credited yoga for preparing her body for the transplant operation
She said: ‘Before my transplant, I’d get up at 4am to do my treatment for about an hour, but still couldn’t breathe.
‘I’d still take my children to school and fight for every breath, but the transplant completely changed my life.’
‘They gave me the gift of life’
After a mandatory six-month waiting period, Selwa was permitted to write to her donor family, through the Southwest Transplant Alliance – an organisation working with the families of organ donors and recipients.
‘It was always something I knew I’d do, because I wanted to be able to say thank you,’ she said. ‘I never expected anything back, but I’m so thankful that she replied.’
Kimber’s reply revealed that her student daughter, Kendall’s lungs had been donated, after her death, following a car accident on Highway 155.
The 52 year-old, and Kendall’s father Brent, 50, decided to donate their daughter’s organs, as Kimber remembered her expressing her wish to be a donor, when she filled in her driving licence application form, a year before.
Kimber said: ‘Kendall got her driving licence when she was 17 and when she was filling in the form, she turned to me and asked, “Should I be an organ donor?” I replied “Well, do you want to be?” She said it was something she would really like to do.
Selwa, pictured here with Scott, revealed her lung function had dropped to 22%
‘Even if we hadn’t had that conversation, I know I would have wanted her to be, but it meant I had no hesitation.
‘I agreed for her heart, lungs, liver, kidney and even her uterus and corneas to be used, because I felt that although I had lost her, she could save so many others.’
After chatting online for five months, Kimber and Kendall’s older sister Cameron, 21, made the courageous decision to meet Selwa for the first time last month.
On August 9, they met at a shopping centre in Dallas and have since developed a strong bond.
Selwa, who shared the emotional moment on her instagram page @selwayoga, said: ‘We went from laughing to crying, to laughing again. It was such an emotional experience.
‘These were the people that saved my life, because they were selfless. They gave me the gift of life.’
Tearful meeting
Meanwhile, Kimber was keen to meet anyone who had benefited from her daughter’s organs.
She said: ‘I did struggle to come to terms with it, but when Selwa got in touch, I was so happy to talk with her.
‘I wanted to take it slowly, though, and waited until after the first anniversary of Kendall’s death to arrange to meet up.
Selwa, pictured enjoying a holiday with her family, is keen to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation, along with Kendall’s mother Kimber
‘Driving to meet her, I was a tiny bit nervous, but the minute I saw her, I just burst into tears. It was so surreal, because this person I was talking to had my DNA inside her. It was amazing and wonderful.
‘Selwa is part of our family now and I hope we will have a real friendship for life.’
Now Kimber and Selwa are speaking out to encourage others to discuss organ donation with their families, in the event of their deaths.
Selwa experienced some problems with her body rejecting the organ and her lung function dropping to 55 percent, but she is determined to keep fighting, and campaigning.
‘Kimber has been very brave. I want to help her family to remember Kendall through me,’ Selwa says of her donor’s mother
She said: ‘I think talking to your family about what happens to you after death still has a real stigma.
‘No one likes to talk about death, but it’s so important. There are so many organs that haven’t been used because people haven’t had that conversation with loved ones
‘Kimber has been very brave. She lost her child, yet has been so loving and accepting towards me. I want to help her family to remember Kendall through me.’
Kimber added: ‘Together we can give such a unique perspective to raising awareness of cystic fibrosis and organ donation. I am glad that I can do this in Kendall’s memory.’