DarrenBarefoot.com

sorry but I’ve been carrying this story around with me for a long time…

One of the saddest things that I ever experienced as a lab tech was to go collect the last blood samples from an organ donor. This young teenage boy had “borrowed” an ATV and received a major head injury. He was brain dead.

Over the period of a week, we all gave care to this young man as he lay in ICU. His family, I’m sure, was going through hell trying to deal with the cards being dealt to them. Some families decide not to go through with events that could save others and some do…I’ve seen it go both ways.

His family decided to bring something positive out of this terrible accident. And so it was that I found myself standing in front of his bed that Sunday evening. Most of his IV’s had been removed and he was no longer on a respirator. He was lying on his back, his long dark hair was falling onto the pillow, and breathing easily and fully. Someone had placed a small brown teddybear under his arm and he looked like he was peacefully sleeping. Waiting for his family to come get him…

As I gathered the samples that had been collected by the nurses, I passed a surgeon who was with PORT (Pacific Organ Retrieval Team) and just arrived from Vancouver. He smiled at me in a way that is difficult to describe. Was it to comfort someone who is dealing with seeing a young life end too soon or was it a way for himself to deal with the task he had at hand? I cannot imagine nor do I wish too. All I know is that I signed up for an organ donor card shortly after all of this had transpired. 20 years later, it is still burned into my conscientiousness. I hope the people who received his gifts are living their lives to the fullest.

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