On April 8, 2009 at 7:45 am my daughter Alexis was at school there were some kids playing with balls and a 15 year old threw a basketball at her it hit her in the head. I thought she was ok but at about 300pm she started getting a real bad head ache.
What I didn’t know was that the ball caused a brain bleed. I got to the school at about 3:40 pm and she wasn’t really responding to me. We were in the car on the way to the hospital and she started seizing up and said “something something daddy” and those were her last words.
They flew her from troy Beaumont to royal oak Beaumont where they pronounced her brain dead. I made the decision to donate her organs because she was always trying to help people and even at 8 years old that’s what she would have wanted.
She was able to save 6 lives with 8 organs,and improve the quality of life for so many others. Two young children at Royal Oak got her corneas which means they were able to see for Easter. An 8-year-old boy in Maryland got her heart and is doing well.
A 17-year-old girl in Pittsburgh got both lungs. A man in NY got intestines, and liver and both kidneys also went to those who needed them. I miss my beautiful princess but now she is not only my angel but my hero.
I tell this story because even something so harmless as a ball can be so devastating, so be cautious about your children.
Thank you for your time, Rick Johnson
Auburn Hills
