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Organ Donation: The Critical Difference

On Friday April 29, 2011 Saint Alphonsus took part in a special flag raising ceremony on a grassy knoll near the hospital's Curtis Road entrance. A dozen people gathered to raise a flag recognizing organ donation. The Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank is the organ procurement organization that works with Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. In 2010 fifty lives were saved from organ donors at Saint Alphonsus. 64 lives were saved in 2009. Just one organ donor has the potential to save up to seven lives. As the region’s only Level II trauma center we take this responsibility very seriously and we are humbled by the family decisions to share the gift of life.

Saint Alphonsus Health System CFO Blaine Peterson welcomed guests and shared the importance of organ donation. Kelly Duren was one of two guests who spoke about how organ donation changed her life. Below is Kelly's story.

Good afternoon and Welcome. I am here today to tell you a story about our road to becoming a donor family and why it is important to our family to educate those around us.

I would also like to Thank PNTB for asking me to speak on such an important subject as Organ & Tissue Donation and why I believe it is so important to have this conversation with your loved ones.

My story starts with my son, Rocky, who passed away in a motorcycle accident. His short life was spent playing sports, riding bikes and helping the underdog. Whenever he would get on a motorized machine or in a car, I would always say to him, “Please be careful”. Having a mother and brother who died in a car accident in 1980, I was always worried. His response to me became, Mother, I can die crossing the street today and if we always live in fear of dying, we never live. We had conversations about death and what he did like and dislike, but the one thing we never discussed was what if we die today? What then? Would you want a funeral, cremation, would you want to donate your organs and tissue to help others? As a person who always gave, his answer no doubt would have been yes. He used to say jokingly, now remember, I do not like bugs so please do not bury me!

Roc believed in cremation and had I been aware and educated on organ donation, maybe I would have had that conversation as well. Now, with this tragedy in our life, I have had this conversation with my other children and loved ones. Is it a great conversation topic? No, but when is a good time? I can tell you from experience it is not when you are sitting in ICU being told that your child is brain dead. Too many other emotions are running through your head and you are not in the frame of mind to even be thinking straight.

However, had it not been for the staff at PNTB, staff at Saint Alphonsus Hospital and my son’s in-laws being involved and lending me the thoughts and education, I’m not sure I would be standing here today. I can tell you my son was always lending a helping hand, sticking up for or helping out the underdog. So making this decision to donate his organs and tissue has helped 7 people live, 2 people see and countless others benefiting from his tissue donation. His gift of life. I will not tell you it is an easy decision but one I believe should be discussed. We were able to take a terrible tragedy that we had no control over and turn it into something so positive that my son was able to one last time help out the underdog and give the gift of life.

As our family looks for ways to find the positive, I know my son has given something special to many people including a memory we can share with his daughter as she was only 8 months old at the time of his death. Many people we know have now made the decision to designate themselves Organ and Tissue donors on their driver’s licenses due to living this tragedy with us and learning about Organ Donation. I can only ask that you have this conversation with your family and friends, educate yourself and them, as it can make a difference. Let me end by saying that the letters we have received from the recipients of Roc’s organs has taught us that our decision to allow Rocky to become a donor was the right one and why I can say our decision was a good one. Have this conversation with your loved ones and in my son’s words…Pay it Forward.

Thank you