I’m an Organ Donor, Are You?
said, “me too!” He was so proud of the words, “organ donor” on his drivers license. Numerous times, seemingly out of nowhere, he would bring up the subject of organ donations – often chastising whoever he was talking to if they indicated that they didn’t have those magical words on their licenses.One day just over four years ago, BJ and were in the car together and he said, “mom, you know that if anything ever happens to me, I want my organs donated.” I replied that I did know that, and I reminded him that I felt the same way if anything should happen to me. Our conversation then turned to other things.
Little did I know at that time that less than two weeks later BJ would be able to get his chance at being an organ donor. It was almost comical to watch Susan, the nurse, timidly approach us on that fateful day indicating that she needed to talk to Kim and me about something. She looked so nervous that I almost felt sorry for her! I got a big grin on my face and said to her, “if you are going to ask us if we would like to donate BJ’s organs, the answer is yes, where do we sign?” The relief that came over Susan’s face was immediate! She told us that asking family members about organ donation at the time of a tragedy is the most difficult thing that she has to do in her job. She was so grateful that our decision had already been made.
The day that BJ died was without a doubt the most horrific thing we have ever had to go through. I am so very grateful that we didn’t have the added stress of trying to make a monumental decision at the time when we weren’t really thinking straight.
So – I guess the moral of this story is, think about organ donation, think about the lives that can be saved or greatly enhanced by the precious gift of an organ. Think about it now, and make the decision now. No one ever knows when something will happen. Giving this gift has helped our family feel a little bit of goodness come out of our son’s death.
Last Saturday Intermountain Donor Services sponsored a 5k dash. It is a fun way to help out their cause. The best part of this race is that there are participants from every level – very serious runners to little children to 84 year old athletes. There are parents pushing strollers, and even some organ recipients walking the race carrying their oxygen packs on their backs. There was a dad who walked the entire course wearing a baby sling with a newborn across his chest. The times ranged from 18 minutes to over an hour. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to participate. All proceeds from the race benefit the Intermountain Donor Services.
(Just so you know - I beat this lady to the finish line)
For the first time this annual event was held in Ogden beginning and ending at Weber State University. The first part was a pretty steep hill, but once you got past the hill, the rest of the race was a beautiful, mostly downhill, course. I was extremely nervous about doing this race because I have not been running much lately, but when I realized that there was really no pressure to perform well, I settled down and truly enjoyed the run. I’ll admit that the best part of the race was towards the end when I saw Jody and Doran coming back to run with me to the finish! It was a very enjoyable day, Doran and Jody really kicked butt! (See Jody’s post here). I’m so glad that I could participate, and in a small way help a cause that BJ felt so strongly about.
Comments