A woman whose daughter took her own life after being raped as a child has revealed she’s drawing comfort from the fact the 20-year-old saved four people’s lives, thanks to donating her organs.
Nash was convicted of six counts of rape of a child under the age of 13, and was jailed for six years in 2014.
His sentence was later increased to nine years by the Court of Appeal.
But Shannon never recovered from the toll the abuse took on her, and entered a spiral of self-harm, and took her own life in May 2022.
Following her daughter’s death last spring, her mother Tracey is raising awareness of organ donors and is campaigning for better mental health services for young people who have experienced trauma.
Following the 20-year-old’s death, a child received her heart.
According to DailyMail, her lungs are now breathing air for a lady who was running out of time, and a man who’d been waiting for over three years received one kidney and her pancreas.
Her other kidney went to a young man in his 20s who had been waiting over three years for a transplant.
Even her bones are being used for amputee patients while her blood and cells have gone to hundreds more.
Tracey said: ‘Knowing that my daughter lives on in other people is some consolation for losing her.
‘But the best for me was that Shan’s skin was donated to help burn victims feel beautiful again.’
‘Although Shan had destroyed most of her skin from self-harm over the years, the surgeon said the skin on her back was beautiful and could be donated to help others.’
‘One day I spotted Shan and Barry in town holding hands. He was the older brother of one of her friends,’ Tracey recounted.
‘I told her to stop hanging around with him.’Another time I caught her in his car, and told him to stay away from her as she was only a child. But he told me he wasn’t doing anything wrong.’
Months later, Shannon confessed to her mum that she was in a relationship with Nash.
Tracey says: ‘I was horrified and told her she couldn’t see him anymore. But she refused, so I called the police.
‘Officers arrived shortly after and asked Shannon about Nash.
‘Shan broke down, telling the police they’d been dating. One of the officers asked if she’d had sex with him,’ Tracey recounted.
‘She said he’d forced her to have sex. Then she admitted he’d raped her many times over the last six months. I felt sick.’
Afterwards Tracey took Shannon to the doctors. There she was prescribed antibiotics for an STD.
Meanwhile, Nash was arrested and interviewed where he admitted having sex with Shannon.
In August 2014, on Shannon’s 13th birthday, she gave a video statement where she revealed Nash had been buying her sweets and cuddly toys for months before raping her.
In December that year, Nash was convicted of six counts of rape of a child under the age of 13, and was jailed for six years.
