Knowing that our Michelle helped others is so comforting

"She loved people. She loved being at home with us but she loved her job too. She liked to help people, I think if she had continued in the police force she would have ended up working in something like victim support.

"That's what brings some comfort to me in all of this, knowing that she has helped others and she would be happy with that."

Pc Michelle Stackhouse passed away on March 23, 2010. She was 33.

"Her organs saved the lives of six other people," says her mum, a retired supermarket worker. "That was her last wish, to help others. That sums up Michelle perfectly."

Up until five weeks before her death, Michelle was fit, healthy and a regular down the gym. She had never taken a day off work sick during her successful career with West Midlands Police.

"She started to feel unwell," explains dad Les, a 68-year-old retired Severn Trent worker. "She got up one morning with a rash and then started to get terrible headaches.

"She went to the doctors and they thought it was an infection and she took a week off work."

Her mother picks up the story: "But when she went back to work, she couldn't walk properly or drive the cars so they sent her home.

"She was getting frustrated because she just wanted to get back to work. Get back to normality.

"We went back to the doctors and they booked her in to see a specialist at Nuffield Hospital. That was the Thursday and she was booked in for the Monday.

"So a few days later she went to see the specialist and they wanted to admit her straight away to New Cross. But she wanted to go back home first. She was feeling really sick and had an awful headache. She just wanted to lie down on her own bed. But when she got home, she collapsed.

"I went with her in the ambulance. It was a frightening and stressful time. She just started off with a rash and now all of this was happening. It was something so out of the blue. We never thought it would get this bad."

Michelle was rushed to Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital, where it was discovered she had swelling on the brain caused by systemic vasculitis - inflammation of the blood vessels. That was Monday. On Wednesday, she was confirmed as brain stem dead.

"It's hard to describe how it feels," continues 64-year-old Christine, who is also mum to 40-year-old Kerry. "No one thought it was that serious to begin with, now everything had changed.

"But when she was admitted to hospital, we soon realised she wasn't going to get better. And the doctors said, even if she did come around, she would be brain damaged. It wouldn't be the same Michelle we knew and loved.

"It still doesn't feel real to this day."

Michelle, who used to work in the laboratories of New Cross and in the catering department at Molineux before becoming a police officer, had carried a donor card for years.

"We got one together when we were out shopping years ago," explains Christine from the Wolverhampton home she shares with Les and their Jack Russell, Alfie. Michelle, a former Rakegate and St Peter's pupil, lived at the same Stafford Road house before her death.

"They approach you right away about the organ donation. It was the morning she died," Christine says.

"I wasn't too sure about it in all honesty," adds Les. "It hadn't really sunk in."

"But I knew she had a donor card and I knew it was her last wish to help others," adds Christine.

Michelle's organs were eventually used to save the lives of six people. A 49-year-old grandmother was given her heart, a 60-year-old grandfather received a double lung transplant and a 17-year-old girl, once given just days to live, was able to undergo a liver transplant. Meanwhile, a 57-year-old man and a 43-year-old mother received her kidneys and a 42-year-old man her pancreas.

"We have received three replies from the people who benefitted," says Christine. "I don't want to delve too much into it all though in case I find out something that upsets me more, but it has been nice to hear from the people.

"The grandmother wrote to us and it was nice to know she had been given the gift of life. It was nice to know she was going to live to see her grandchildren grow up. Michelle would have liked that."

Michelle joined the police after working in the hospital labs.

"She loved working at the hospital but the money wasn't that good and I think she wanted something that offered more of a security net should something happen to me or her mother," says Les.

"But she was a natural. She loved it and she loved the people she worked with. We think she would have ended up supporting the victims, you know working with the battered wives and people like that."

Pc Stackhouse was stationed at both Bilston and Wednesfield.

Colleagues described her as having a "precious quality" as an officer and more than 200 people attended her funeral at Oxley's Epiphany Church.

Detective Sergeant Andy Padmore, who was her supervisor, today paid tribute to her.

He said: "Michelle was a much loved, liked and respected colleague. Her tragic and untimely death was felt deeply by all of those within the West Midlands Police family that knew her.

"I know that officers and staff took some solace in the selfless act by Michelle's family to agree to organ donation. Michelle is sadly missed and will not be forgotten."

Since April of this year, 389 people across the country have donated organs, with 975 people receiving transplants.

However, more than 7,500 people remain on the waiting list. And three people die every day waiting for an organ transplant.

NHS Blood and Transplant recently held National Transplant Week to raise awareness of the issue - and encourage people to talk about organ donation with their nearest and dearest and sign the national register. After all, while more than 96 per cent of people believe donating is the right thing to do, only 30 per cent are actually on the register.

Public health minister Anna Soubry said: "I am delighted that thanks to the work of NHS Blood and Transplant and the millions already signed up on the organ donor register, we are seeing a 50 per cent increase in organ donors and 30 per cent more organs transplanted than five years ago. Giving an organ can save the life of someone in desperate need, so I'm delighted that so many people have agreed to donate and give the gift of life, helping to increase donor numbers by 50 per cent since 2008 and save hundreds of lives. It's vital that we continue to give more people the opportunity of a transplant which is why I encourage everyone to discuss their wishes about organ donation with their loved ones and sign the register today."

Michelle's family also encouraged people to support organ donation, sign the national register and make sure their relatives know their wishes. "Life goes on and you have just got to get on with it," concludes Christine. "Michelle is missed every minute of every day but you have to carry on. There are other people in our situation. We are not alone. But it is very sad. She was so young.

"But you just have to cling to what good you can in a situation. Six lives were saved following the death of Michelle – that is something positive from something so awful."

• For details, visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk

By Elizabeth Joyce