‘I could hold Georgie’s hand again’: Mother meets woman who received daughter’s hand transplant

London: A mother has shared an emotional reunion with the woman who received her late daughter’s hand in a transplant, saying she was “over the moon” to see the difference it made.

Jackie Kirwan lost her 33-year-old daughter Georgie last year in England following complications from a congenital brain malformation that caused constant debilitating seizures.

Georgie’s limbs and organs were donated. Her left hand became a transplant for Kim Smith, who lost her hands to sepsis in 2017.

The two women met for the first time since the surgery last year.“I’d decided that if Georgie’s donor recipient got in touch, I would meet them,” Jackie told. “Meeting Kim was unreal. We were both crying and she told me she was forever grateful, and she would look after her hand forever.”

Georgie went to university and earned a degree in English. She loved dancing and swimming, but severe epilepsy meant she was unable to drive, work, or take public transport alone.

When she passed away in 2025, an organ donation nurse spoke with Jackie, who was surprised to learn that limb donation was an option.“

Georgie had joined the register when she was 17, but I never realized families still had to sign on their behalf,” Jackie said.“

You don’t get to know where the donations go due to patient confidentiality, but I later received a letter from Kim, thanking me and asking to meet. My first thought was that I could meet her and hold Georgie’s hand.”

Kim lost all her limbs after contracting an infection and developing sepsis while on vacation in Spain eight years ago. She received Georgie’s left hand last year.“I think Georgie would be over the moon if she knew what it had done for Kim,” Jackie said.