Organ Donation- Leaving a legacy of life and love
This is a topic that is near and dear to me. Both John and my Dad were in the donor registry. Both had registered at the BMV when getting their license renewed. Organ donation is something that I find so interesting in how different their situations were. Dad died from a brain tumor in the hospital, John in a crash at the scene.
Dad’s Organ Donation
Due to having cancer, Dad was unable to donate most organs and tissues but was able to donate both of his corneas. Both corneas were sent out of state. We found out right away through the mail where and who (age and gender), they went to, we knew that the surgeries were successful. This letter was received within just a few weeks of his passing. We were given a crocheted shawl to honor Dad’s gift.
If you have the know-how and the talent to crochet, this is an amazing project to take on. They make shawls in both triangular and rectangular patterns. They are small in size- Rectangle: 24-26” wide by 60” long or Triangle: No smaller than 60” wide. For more information on joining this project, go to the Donate Life website and click on Shawls of Support.
While Dad was in the hospital, they had asked if we were okay with the donation before he passed but after we knew it was inevitable. There was a long series of questions about what uses we were okay with. However, many of these questions didn’t pertain to his situation because he had cancer. They only transplant organs that are free of disease. I was glad he was able to donate because I knew it was something that he wanted to do.
John’s Organ Donation
I have learned that in order to donate vital organs you cannot lose oxygen, meaning you need to die at the hospital connected to life support. Typically deceased organ donors can donate both kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, pancreas, and intestines. John died at the crash site and lost oxygen within minutes. He wasn’t able to donate his organs due to losing oxygen. He was, however, able to give 117 donations, a combination of skin, tissue, corneas, and bone grafts.
With Johns’s donations, I have never found out where they actually went to but as of June of 2019, 7 transplants had been completed. I received a phone call a few hours after the crash, verifying our consent for the donation and what purposes we were okay with (research, education, transplants, etc). They knew to call me because he had listed me and gave my phone number as the emergency contact when registering at the BMV. But here’s the thing, if we hadn’t talked about organ donation before he passed, I really wouldn’t have known what he wanted, and in all honesty, I could have vetoed the donation.
He was able to give 117 donations, a combination of skin, tissue, cornea and bone grafts.
Somewhere, someone may (or 117 someones) now has an uncontrollable twitch that makes them stay busy every single minute. It’s possible that a person now has a desire to do every DIY project under the sun. Maybe they want to design, create, and make a new more efficient way to solve an old problem. They might have a new desire for an Old Milwaukee Light at ten till two because it’s time for a blue. Perhaps they are nervous about snorkeling. Maybe they have a new appreciation for their family and love like there’s no tomorrow. Or maybe they get a sense of peace every time that they see a fly.
Several months after the crash, we received a gift from Lion’s Eye Bank of West Central Ohio for John being a gift of sight donor. It included an extremely thoughtful letter with it. I’m not sure who his corneas went to, but it is something that I would love to find out! I tucked this away for the kids for when they are grown.
Want to donate? Tell your people!
Most people are in favor of organ and tissue donation, but it doesn’t count unless you REGISTER and TELL YOUR PEOPLE. There are lots of questions asked and it is really helpful to your people to have an idea about what you would want. Are you okay with your donation being used for any purpose including research, education, transplant, etc. or do you want only for transplant? Or only for education. You are able to decide whatever you like, as long as you TELL YOUR PEOPLE. Because in all honestly, your decision is meaningless if you don’t take the time to tell someone and have it written down in an easy to find place.
More than 165 million people have registered as organ donors, but only about 3 in 1,000 can actually become donors when they die.
https://www.organdonor.gov/about/process.html
Want to donate?
You can go to organdonor.gov, and on the home page is a drop-down menu to select your state for information on how to register. Lifeline of Ohio gives the following information on their website for people from Ohio.
Three Easy Ways to Register
- Register online (you will need a valid Ohio driver’s license or state identification card).
- Fill out and mail in an Ohio Donor Registry Enrollment Form
- Say “yes” to organ donation when you visit the Ohio BMV. You will be asked when you receive or renew your driver’s license or state identification card.
Don’t get me wrong, given the choice, I would much rather have Dad and John back. Since that isn’t an option I find comfort in knowing they were able to keep giving even after their death. And that somewhere, hopefully, parts of them will live on and give another family extra time with their loved one or a person the comfort of a healthier life, or they will live their life with purpose.
In the Blink of a Fly is led by Leah Fullenkamp. Leah is the mother of four young children. Their lives were tragically altered after a crash caused by distracted driving killed her husband and her children’s father. This website is the tale of them learning to live again and serves as a passion project to help prevent distracted driving and this tragedy from happening to someone else.
