Jackie Kirwan was understandably devastated when her 33-year-old daughter, Georgie Peterson, died from a fatal seizure. However, because Georgie was an organ donor, her hand was transplanted onto quadruple amputee Kim Smith. Now Jackie gets to hold her daughter’s hand every time Kim comes to visit.
When Jackie first met Kim and held the hand that once belonged to her daughter, she remarked to BBC News, “There’s a little piece of her still there.”
Georgie’s parting gift
In 2017, Kim contracted a urinary tract infection that led to sepsis. To survive, she was forced to have all four of her limbs amputated in 2018. After a failed double-hand transplant, Kim had to learn to live without hands or feet—until she got a call in 2025 about a possible donor. That donor was Jackie daughter, Georgie.
Ever since she was young, Georgie suffered from Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia (PVNH), a condition that causes uncontrolled epilepsy. Throughout her life, she treated PVNH with medication, but nothing truly worked. Although Georgie underwent brain surgery to address PVNH, the condition ultimately took her life.
While Georgie had signed up to be a donor, permission from the family was still needed for limb donation. Jackie knew that Georgie wouldn’t hesitate to donate a part of herself to help someone else, despite the two never having discussed donating hands, feet, or other limbs. In an interview with This Morning, Jackie said, “If you’re giving heart, liver, lungs, why not help somebody?”
Shortly after Georgie’s passing, Kim was prepped for the transplant. It was a success.
Extending gratitude
After the procedure, Kim reached out to Jackie. She wrote a letter thanking both Jackie and her daughter for the incredible gift of a hand. Kim also expressed interest in meeting Jackie in person to thank her if she was interested. Jackie accepted.
Upon first meeting, Jackie was afraid to ask if she could hold her daughter’s hand again. After all, her daughter’s hand now belonged to Kim. However, Kim wanted to meet Jackie for that very reason. Now, whenever the two visit, Jackie has permission to hold Georgie’s hand.
Thanks to Georgie, Kim is now able to hold her five-year-old granddaughter’s hand, along with performing several other day-to-day tasks and activities. Because of the mobility in Georgie’s hand, Kim is able to keep the fingers on her new hand straight, something that isn’t common with hand transplants.
A call for advocacy
Today, the two women have become advocates for organ donation and other causes. Jackie wants to raise awareness of PVNH and support further research into the condition that took Georgie’s life. Kim is also an advocate for sepsis research to improve early diagnosis and treatment.
While Georgie is no longer with us, her impact lives on—not just through the hand now attached to Kim’s wrist, but also through the example she set for how we can improve lives even after we are gone.
