Nambour mum Mary Bourke discusses daughter Georgia’s death, organ donation

A Sunshine Coast mother has reflected on the moment she knew she lost her daughter, soon after losing her husband a similar way, and how her teen saved multiple lives after her death.

Georgia Bourke (left) died in 2014 due to a brain aneurysm, with her mother Mary Bourke (right) explaining how her daughter became an organ donor after her death. Picture: ABC News/Sam Turner

A Sunshine Coast mother has reflected on the ultimate gift her daughter was able to donate after her sudden death, saving the lives of multiple people.

Georgia Bourke was an active 18-year-old girl playing in a touch football game in the southern Queensland town of Goondiwindi in January 2014 when she tragically collapsed on the field due to a brain bleed.

Her mother Mary Bourke, who now lives at Nambour, was on the sidelines with her family at the time when she saw Georgia collapse.

Ms Bourke said her daughter appeared sluggish on the field before she collapsed, but thought it was due to the having McDonald’s before the game, her favourite food.

Mary and Mikayla Bourke Donate Life’s Service of Remembrance held at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Buderim. Picture: Sam Turner

Paramedics rushed onto the field and desperately performed CPR before she was rushed to hospital. She was eventually flown to Brisbane for treatment.

Ms Bourke said it was a “catastrophic brain bleed”. It was a condition Georgia was familiar with having experienced it when she was 15 years old but was later cleared.

The Nambour woman spoke of the clarity she experienced when Georgia was flown to Brisbane.

“On the chopper [to hospital] I knew what the outcome was going to be,” she confessed.

“Just watching her blood pressure drop … I knew we wouldn’t have our Georgia back.

“No matter how hard it was, I wanted her back the way she was.”

Georgia’s mum said in that moment she said she had to be strong for her children, due to her husband’s dying 20 months prior to a similar brain bleed.

Sadly they were told their bubbly teenager who was the “life of the party” and the “glue” for her siblings could not be saved.

The young teacher aide was loved in her community where she taught indigenous children to read, a job she cherished.

Georgia Bourke donated her organs following her sudden death at the age of 18. Picture: ABC News

Her mother affectionately called her the “pied piper” because she would always be driving someone’s kids around, whether it was to hang out or go to McDonald’s.

“It didn’t matter who you were, everybody loved Georgia,” Ms Bourke said.

“It didn’t matter what walk of life you were from … she was just that kid who would be friends with everybody.”

What Georgia did was donate her organs to those desperately in need, a conversation their family discussed previously.

Ms Bourke said all of her daughter’s organs including her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, skin and her corneas were donated.

She said they’ve received anonymous letters from those who received Georgia’s organs, which made her happy they were living their best lives.

Even though she would embrace meeting them in real life, she was not openly searching for them. Ms Bourke just wanted to know her daughter was still out there.

Ms Bourke has become a strong advocate for organ donation.

More than 10 years since Georgia’s death, Ms Bourke and her family have become advocates organ donation.

Ms Bourke spoke of Georgia’s life and how it felt meeting organ transplant recipients at a Donate Life’s Service of Remembrance held at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Buderim in early June.

“Our journey happened in a real instant, but theirs is a really long journey of being unwell for a number of years,” Ms Bourke said.

“Having that normal life and then one day being cut down where you’re no longer able to do anything.

“It’s completely different journeys.”

She moved to the Sunshine Coast after years in Goondiwindi. Ms Bourke cherished the years spent in the region along with the support her family received, but wanted a sea change.

“Sometimes you just want to have some anonymity as well and have the choice to share your story,” Ms Bourke said.

“Yes we have an extremely sad story, but we are thriving as well.

“We don’t want people to look at us with sympathy, we want people to know about our journey and maybe that will help them when tragedy strikes them, and they can see that life does goes on.”

Originally published as Nambour mum Mary Bourke discusses daughter Georgia’s death, organ donation