LifeLINES

I was honored last month to attend the annual Michigan Donor Family Gathering, where our teams work with Eversight to thank families and remember their loved ones. It’s our largest and – in many ways – most meaningful event of the year.

It is a beautiful day spent reading the names of donors and showing families just how much they mean to us. But being there as the relative or friend of an organ, eye or tissue donor means you’ve suffered great loss. As one of the speakers so aptly put it, “This is the loveliest event I never wanted to attend.”

When I think about why I do this work, these families are it.

Throughout my more than 30 years in this field, I’ve met hundreds of families. As a donation coordinator working inside hospitals in the 1990s, I got to know them on their darkest days as I explained how donation works and helped them through it.

Now I meet families months after that experience, but the raw emotion is still there for many. And I’m just as moved by their stories as I was back then. I’m honored to learn about the person they’ve lost, hear what made them special, and understand how donation has been part of the family’s journey.

On the same day as our event, a Facebook post appeared in my feed that took me back. It was written by a father I met 30 years ago. He and his wife lost their 6-year-old son, Matthew, after an accident at the family’s pond. They wanted him to be a donor because, even at 6, Matthew was a helper.

His dad reflected in the social media post about all that was lost for Matthew in three decades: High school graduation, college, a wedding, to name a few life events. And Matthew never had the chance to be a firefighter just like his dad. But his son did save lives, which is the greatest accomplishment for anyone. He also expressed gratitude for having met Matthew’s organ recipients – and for knowing that his son is their hero.

I cannot put into words how privileged I feel to have played a small part in Matthew's legacy. The work we do at Gift of Life Michigan for all the Matthews and their families is sacred.

At the end of our Michigan Donor Family gathering, about 20 organ, eye and tissue recipients held signs telling the donor families what gifts they received. We saw signs that said “Liver-2014” and “Heart-2001” as well as those honoring tissue grafts and cornea transplants. Then they all flipped the signs over and every one of them read: “Thank You!” That small gesture had such an enormous impact on our families. Some cried, others cheered, but they were all moved in their own ways.

Connecting donor families with grateful recipients reminds me why I do this work. These gifts quite literally change lives, and I cannot think of a more rewarding outcome from such an unimaginable loss.

On the hardest days in my work, I take a quiet moment to think of these families, the donors and the recipients. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to know people who truly have honored life through donation in the most extraordinary way possible.

Stay well! 

Dorrie Dils
President and CEO
Gift of Life Michigan