Our Story of Organ Donation

By Karen Loomis

The green ribbon is the national symbol for organ and tissue donation. Please take time to think about what you and your family would do if faced with this decision. Long before I became a nurse, I felt that organ donation was the "right" thing to do. I had already told my husband that he better tell me if he didn’t want to be one, because if it was left up to me and something happened, he would be a donor. I had said on several occasions that I thought that donating your child’s organs would be hard, but that it would be the "right" thing to do. I never thought that I would be put to the test to prove what I was saying.

July, 1999, was one of the happiest and the saddest times of our life. We were overjoyed with the birth of our fourth daughter. We never knew until the moment that she was born that there were any problems with her. We were blessed to have her for 3 very short days. We made the most of those days. We were trying to make as many memories as we could because we knew that we would not have her for long. During that time we made the decision to donate her organs. It took about ten hours to be sure that we would be able to follow through, because her size limited whom she would be compatible with. We know that if receiving an organ had helped her, we would have taken it in a split second. So how could we not donate? Late that last evening, I remember walking into her room and thinking: I can’t do it. I can’t let them cut her heart out! In the next second, I was thinking about how happy that family in Michigan was right then. We knew that we were going to lose our little angel, but how could we put another family through the same thing when we knew that we could (hopefully) help.

Sending our daughter to surgery was the hardest and the easiest thing that we have ever done. We have received so many blessings since her surgery. Our family has grown larger, not just with the birth of our fourth child, but also with the addition of four members that we had never actually met until just a few days ago. Maclaine’s heart went to a little boy named Samuel. He has an older brother. We feel like Samuel, his parents and his brother are family. We have been in contact since early fall, 1999. It has been a very positive experience for us. We talk on the phone frequently, exchange letters, and email every few days. We have exchanged pictures and videos. We just had our first meeting. I knew that it would be an emotional experience. I had already warned my husband that I would probably cry the whole time, but that it would be a good cry. I did really well (I think), because I didn’t cry until they were leaving.

We had a wonderful visit. It was like we already knew them from all the letters and phone calls and emails. We have already talked about us going north to visit with them. We couldn’t have asked for a better family to give our daughter’s heart. If we had to give a baby up for adoption (which is one way we look at it), we would have picked a family just like God picked for us.

I know that not every story will be as happy as ours. Everyone does not want contact after the surgery. Regardless of whether the ending is happy or sad. But always remember that your loved one can help another live. What a wonderful act for one person to do for another.

We are so proud of our little angel, Maclaine Elise that she was able to help another baby to live. The gift of life is so precious. Please take the time to talk with your family about your decision and how important it is to you. Without your family’s consent, regardless of your decision, donation will not occur.

You can read Maclaine’s story at http://clainescorner.com/. This website was lovingly made by her daddy. He still has some more to add to her site. It will soon include Samuel’s story. We want everyone to know how proud we are to be a "donor family".