LATE on a rainy summer's night nearly four years ago, Gwyneth Prestidge and her husband Phil were at their home in Poole when there was a knock on the door from the police.

Their 20-year-old son Steven and 18-year-old daughter Fay had been involved in a car accident just 30 seconds away from the safety of their house.

Steve, who was driving, had pulled out to overtake a Jeep that was parked at the roadside in Herbert Avenue, Parkstone.

"The white lines are slippery when it's wet," explained Gwyn, 49. "The back wheel skidded on the white line. He tried to correct it, went into the four-wheel drive, bounced off and went into a wall."

Both the youngsters were wearing seat belts. But while Steve escaped with a few scratches, Fay hit her head against the side of the car and was seriously hurt.

"When we arrived at Poole Hospital we were told there wasn't much hope, and that if she survived, she would be in a vegetative state," recalled Gwyn. The hospital sent brain scans to experts at the Wessex Neurological Unit at Southampton, who confirmed the damage was too bad for Fay to recover.

Gwyn cannot remember who first asked the family about the possibility of organ donation. "My main concern when approached was: what did she want? We didn't know. You're trying to make a decision for someone who's dying."

She and Phil talked it over with Steve and their other son Michael, then 23, before giving their consent. "For me it was partly because of my feelings about organ donation. For her two brothers it was a lot more difficult. They said 'not her eyes' and I said that was fine."

Later, Gwyneth found out that Fay had told her cousin that she wanted to be an organ donor if anything happened to her.

A transplant co-ordinator came to the hospital from Plymouth to explain the procedure. Tests were carried out by two independent sets of doctors, not involved in Fay's care or in the transplants, to confirm that brain death had occurred.

A form had to be filled out specifying which organs could be taken for transplantation and the family said their goodbyes. "We were told the last thing to go is the hearing. I said to her: 'If you see the light Fay, you can go'," said Gwyneth.

The transplant co-ordinator stayed with Fay throughout the operation. She died on August 14, the day after the accident and Gwyneth's birthday.

In all, Fay saved five lives. Her liver was shared by a baby and a 19-year-old girl. Her kidneys went to a 38-year-old woman and a 48-year-old man; and a 28-year-old woman was given her heart and lungs.

The church was packed to overflowing for her funeral. Popular, bubbly Fay had been working at Pilot in Bournemouth and the shop closed so all the staff could attend.

After her death, Fay's toys and videos were donated to the hospital's children's ward and her clothes given to her cousins. "We tried to give things to other people who could use then and get enjoyment out of them. For me that was positive," said Gwyneth. She has since found out that all the recipients of Fay's organs are doing well.

The 19-year-old who received Fay's liver had been only days away from death, but has now been able to go to university. The Portuguese woman who received Fay's heart and lungs wrote to thank the family and they have since exchanged letters and photographs.

"All I want is for the recipients to have a full life. It's what Fay would have done," said Gwyneth. "I just think there's not enough publicity explaining the donor side and people are frightened of what it involves. I feel so strongly about organ donation - I just can't bear the thought of people dying when there's a need."

In an article she wrote for her staff magazine at Liverpool Victoria, Gwyneth wrote: "The fact that five people are now living and having a better quality of life has given us some comfort in the loss of our only daughter.

"Fay was very special and will always be in our hearts; she had a good and caring heart and it's comforting to know that it is still beating in someone else."

FACTFILE

There are nearly 11.5 million people on the NHS organ donor register - but you are still more likely to need a transplant than you are to donate.

In the year ending March 31 2004, 2,863 transplants were carried out - the highest ever recorded.

Last year nearly 400 people died waiting for a transplant.

One in 10 people awaiting a heart transplant die before a donor organ becomes available.

Since April, 721 people have received organs.

There are still 5,826 people in need of an organ transplant and 567 needing corneas.

To register as a donor, ring 0845 60 60 400, or online via www.uktransplant.org.uk.