Bob Eaton's story
(His experience, told by his wife Janna)
Janna writes:
"Bob played an active role in his community. He was a local parish councilor and also fundraised £65,000 to pay for renovation works to his local church. Originally a social drinker, Bob started to drink more heavily following the tragic and sudden death of his daughter. He blamed himself and wished that he’d acted quicker when she fell ill. However he was not to know that she had Meningococcal Meningitis Septicemia.
To fight his addiction, Bob admitted himself to three different detox programs, however they failed to have an affect and he continued to drink his three bottles of whisky a week. It wasn’t until following various visits to the GP, who mentioned it might be worth buying a DIY breathalyzer. This simple mechanism incentivized Bob to stay off alcohol and each morning he would prove to me that he hadn’t touched a drop. Bob was never an aggressive drunk and was very open about his struggles with alcohol. In fact he helped a lot of people with their chronic drinking by sharing his experience.
Despite struggling to beat his alcohol addiction for the last 15 years, Bob found the strength to give up in early 2009 so that he could be considered for a liver transplant. A year later, following an extensive transplant assessment at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bob was accepted onto the liver transplant list.
Even though Bob did not receive the gift of life in time, his spirits were lifted by being on the list. He understood that the transplant would not answer all his health problems yet he lived with hope and felt privileged to be considered for a second chance.”
Bob Eaton died on 4 June 2010 while waiting for a new liver to become available. He was suffering from cellulitis and alcohol-related liver disease.
Janna was keen to share Bob’s story to raise awareness of the risks of alcohol misuse and the damage it can cause the liver. She would also like to encourage people to sign up to organ donor register and give more people like Bob some hope.