Skip to content
Little girl looking Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Behind the heroic act: The heartbreaking story of the youngest organ donor in Britain

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes
The Houlston family will see their son live on in another body.

Teddy Houlston would have celebrated his first birthday this year with his family and twin brother. But he was not able to live for an entire day; baby Teddy was diagnosed with a condition called anencephaly within twelve weeks inside his mother's womb. Heartbreaking and devastating news, yet his family decided that his short precious life wouldn't be put into waste --- Teddy Houlston became the youngest organ donor in the United Kingdom.

span style="line-height: 15.8599996566772px;">MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - "Following Teddy's diagnosis we had some time to acclimatise to what might happen, therefore we decided early on as a family that we would want to go ahead with the pregnancy and donate his organs if this was possible," his mother, Jess, said in a statement to NHS.

Teddy was born without parts of the brain and skull, and was expected only to live for hours. The news came across as heartbreaking, knowing they would never be able to bring him home or see him grow up, but Teddy's family is determined to look on the bright side.

Amidst all the sadness, the family had a simple wish for Teddy --- meeting and spending time together with his twin Noah, who fortunately did not share the same condition. After a couple of hours, Teddy died, leaving his family coping, knowing he was able to live through another person and save a life.

Keep a rosary always within your reach. Find the perfect rosaries for home, work and parish.

"There was so much sadness and so much joy as well that he had just achieved something that we didn't think was going to happen," said Jess.

His kidneys were successfully transplanted into an adult. The Houlston family, along with the many members of the medical community, are sharing the heroic story in hopes to encourage others to sign up as donors. "Do it for Teddy," they say

---


'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'


Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.