Maureen’s legacy

A double-lung transplant recipient, Beck’s mum, Maureen Snell, was able to live the life she had long dreamed of for almost seven years after the procedure. 

“Mum got diagnosed with emphysema in her mid-50s. She’d stopped smoking long ago but she grew up in an English generation where everybody smoked,” Beck said. 

“She had extremely low lung function – it was around 12 per cent. After building up her antibodies, Maureen was put on the transplant list for a couple of months before she got the call. Thankfully it all went well.” 

Before the transplant, Maureen had been prevented from doing one thing she truly loved – travelling. 

After receiving the gift of her new lungs, she was able to fulfill her dream of travelling and she well and truly made the most of it, making multiple trips overseas to Europe, the US and Canada. 

One trip she had desperately wanted to do was to take a special holiday with her two daughters. Remarkably, while they were exploring the depths of the Palace de Versailles in Paris, they ran into a familiar face – Head of the Transplant Service at The Alfred, Professor Greg Snell. 

“I was with my younger daughter in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles and I could hear this familiar voice coming up behind me, especially with that English accent,” Prof Snell said. 

“While we have the same surname, we are not connected in any way, but our staff developed a close relationship with Maureen and she had rapidly developed a nickname as ‘Aunty Maureen’, so the staff always referred to her as ‘my aunty’, which was a little amusing. 

“So I tapped Maureen on the shoulder and said to my daughter, ‘this is Aunty Maureen’, and she was taken aback because she didn’t know that we had an Aunty Maureen!” 

Maureen started fundraising for The Alfred soon after her transplant, putting donation tins out on the bar at her workplace, the Dorset Gardens Hotel in Melbourne’s east. 

“Mum was so thankful for her transplant and the amazing work the doctors and staff in the transplant clinic provided, that she wanted to give back to the hospital as a legacy to the person who donated her lungs, but also to help The Alfred continue the excellent care they provided both to her and all of their patients,” Beck said.  

So it was an easy decision for Beck to continue the donations, especially as she still works for the same workplace. 

“Mum got about seven years from her transplant. My sister and I are eternally grateful for those years with her,” Beck said.  

“During that time post-transplant, Mum was able to share so many experiences, including my wedding, the birth of my son and watching her other grandsons grow, travelling – including that amazing trip with my sister Julianna – and enjoying her home on the beach. If Mum hadn’t had the transplant, we would have lost her many years before and would not have had the opportunity to create so many wonderful and cherished memories.” 

Beck said that the fundraising was a way to not only show gratitude for what Maureen got from the donor, but also to recognise and contribute to the hospital, to help give other people the gift that she had. 

“We spent a lot of time at The Alfred … the care was excellent,” Beck said. “We’re forever grateful. 

“When Mum received her transplant, she lived her life like that was going to be it. She really made up for everything she hadn’t been able to do for so many years because she didn’t have the lung function to do it and everyday living was tiring and a struggle. Seven years was wonderful to have. My Mum couldn’t have had any of that without her new lungs. It was absolutely amazing. 

“The fundraising was initially my Mum’s way of wanting to contribute something back. Since then I’ve taken over and continued to do that and I do that as my Mum’s legacy and a special way to continue her memories through fundraising.  

“To date we have raised more than $30,000 and we will continue to raise funds so The Alfred can continue their amazing work.”