Parents' tribute to organ-donor daughter with 'a special magic'

The 27-year-old felt ill at her wedding rehearsal last month and was found unconscious the next day at the County Durham home she shared with fiance Paul Gibson.

After being taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital, she suffered a stroke and died the following morning - two days before her September 22 wedding.

Now, after her lungs, heart, kidneys and liver were used to bring a new lease of life to people around the country, Penelope's parents, Lewis and Daphne Taylor, have paid tribute to their "magical" daughter.

Mrs Taylor, of Neasham, near Darlington, said: "A 19-year-old girl from Ireland with cystic fibrosis received her lungs. We were told she was going rapidly downhill, so they gave her a new life.

"A man in Glasgow has received her heart, her kidneys went to Liverpool - one to a man and the other to a woman with two children. Her liver went to Leeds."

Mr and Mrs Taylor told of the packed life their daughter led, but said she settled down after meeting Paul, with whom she lived in Newton Aycliffe.

As well as becoming the youngest girl to complete the Lyke Wake Walk, agd 12, at 13 she became the youngest member of Neasham Women's Institute, where her mother is president.

Mr Taylor said: "She packed more into the 27 years than most people do in a lifetime.

"She was a real party animal, and a bit of a hell-raiser. She liked fast cars and aeroplanes. But within six months of meeting Paul she just changed."

Penelope and Paul planned to marry at All Saints' Church, Hurworth, near Darlington, but the church was packed with mourners just days later for her funeral.

Mrs Taylor said: "Everyone thinks their child is special, but she was one of those people who seemed to weave a special magic."

Mr Taylor said: "I have no reservations about people having her organs. She was a blood donor, and also on the bone marrow register.

"But you always think it is going to be someone else - not your own family.