A man who donated his liver to a mate woke up from surgery and immediately gave his girlfriend his heart – and PROPOSED.
Jack Buckley, 23, has stepped forward to help family friend Pat Foden-Purser, 56, after she was put on the transplant list needing a new liver.
He went under the knife and hours later post-op he realised it was the perfect moment to pop the question to girlfriend Evelyn Robinson.
His shock timing gave Evelyn the surprise of his life as she sat at his bedside after hours of worry that he wouldn’t pull through the procedure.
Plumber Jack said: “I looked at Evelyn and I thought ‘she’s gone through all this with me, it’s about time I did something to make it up to her’.
“I had thought about proposing in the past but I just suddenly thought this was the right moment.
“I was so happy when she said ‘yes’. I’d always wanted to do it properly by getting down on one knee with a ring but somehow this was just perfect.”
Pat suffers from polycystic liver syndrome and was left in constant pain, meaning Jack knew he had only one option – giving her 66.6 per cent of his liver.
He said: “I’ve known Pat since I was about five or six and she’s just like one of the family.
“There was no question about giving her part of mine, especially when doctors told me mine would grow back in just a few months.
“It was a big operation and it has been painful since, but I’d do it again and again for people in need.”
Nevertheless, Evelyn is hoping it’s the last time he plays the hero after being made to wait hours to see him as doctors stabilised him after the operation.
She said: “I was quite angry when he told me what he wanted to do.
“Of course I wanted him to help someone but I was annoyed because I was worried something might happen to him.
“It was so nerve-wracking while he was having the surgery and then they wouldn’t let me see him for six hours. There was all-sorts going through my head.”
Eventually she and Jack’s parents Jackie and John were allowed in to see him following the procedure at St James’ Hospital in Leeds, West Yorks., on October 13.
She was relieved to see he was alright and never expected that was the moment she would be asked the most important question of her life.
“He asked his mum and dad to leave for a minute because he wanted to talk to me alone,” said Evelyn, 22.
“I worried what he was going to say to me but then he said, “Do you want to get engaged?”
“I was really surprised. But of course I said, ‘yes’.
“I never expected it, I thought he was still high on morphine.”
“We’d never really talked about marriage before – he’d always just said it was only a piece of paper but I think he realised how much of a big thing he’d just been through.”
Jack and care assistant Evelyn, from Rawtenstall, Lancs., who have been together for five years since meeting through mutual friends, are waiting for him to get back to full health before they start wedding planning.
Evelyn added: “He’s still a bit sore but he’s getting there.
“He’s got to be off work for a couple of months as he can’t do any heavy lifting.
“It will give him time to think about some wedding planning, I suppose.”
