Organ donations can provide the gift of life

Too many times in recent weeks, a mourning family has gathered to say goodbye to a loved one whose life was ending all too soon. It has happened again and again and again and seems to have touched so many families in the area.
In one instance, an extended family, including siblings, parents and grandparents, gathered in a Grand Junction, CO hospital. The devastated family was full of questions and despair and sorrow and horror and a thousand and one additional emotions.
Despite the outstanding efforts of the doctors and nurses, the heroic work of emergency response crews, and the cumulative effort of the entire medical community, the young life continued to ebb from a promising young man.
With plenty of tears and almost unimaginable grief, the family said goodbye and the young boy took his last breath and everyone wondered how they would put their lives back together again.
After the family left the hospital room, another crew of medical workers entered. They began a new effort – this time to harvest organs. As the final act of his life, this young man was going to provide his organs as a gift to others who were in desperate need.
The medical teams harvested six organs.
The story generally ends at that point for the donor family. Unless the recipient of the organ donation initiates a contact with the donor, no report is made to the donor families about how the organs were used.
However, imagine the hope that it gave to the mourning family when they saw a Denver Post headline several days later: “Hospital patient recovering after first lungs and liver transplant.”
“A 30 -year old Nebraska man with cystic fibrosis who underwent the state’s first double-lung and liver transplant last week is breathing easily, up and walking around, his surgeon at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora said Monday.
“It’s like I’m a completely new person,” said transplant patient Shaun McCabe. “I’m relieved I decided to take the risk.”
The successful 12-hour surgery on March 10 effectively has cured the cystic fibrosis, but the danger remains that one or more transplanted organs could be rejected, said Dr. Michael Weyant, the cardiothoracic surgeon who led the lung transplant team.
McCabe spent about nine months on the transplant wait list before Donor Alliance identified matching lungs and liver organs, and a combined liver/lung team recovered the organs and brought them to UCH.
The 30-year-old recipient weighed just 87 pounds before the surgery and is already gaining weight.
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While one mourning family was on the donor end of the equation, another family with local connections was on the receiving end.
Ashley Irvin, the daughter of Monticello native Verna Black Askwig, has been on the donor list, awaiting a new heart, since November, 2014.
Ashley, a collegiate soccer player, began to experience medical challenges six years ago. Over the subsequent years, her heart continued to fail.
After a series of strokes and medical emergencies, Ashley received a Left Ventricle Assist Device, (LVAD). The LVAD, which she has carried around for months, keeps her heart functioning, even as it continues to fail.
For more than four months, as her health continued to deteriorate, the worried family and a host of friends prayed for a miracle. One finally arrived when a donor heart was located in early March.
Just hours before her potential life-saving surgery, Ashley wrote, “I am just so happy I will be getting a new heart! I feel like it’s a New Chapter and New Life for me....  I also feel for the donor family and am grateful for them, allowing the best possible outcome to a very tragic situation.  Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.” 
After a multi-hour surgery on March 10, Ashley had her a new heart. Just two days later, Ashley’s grandfather, Wendle “Rust” Black, passed away at the age of 91.
After the surgery, everything looked great through the early hours. However, complications arose and Ashley was put on life support when the new heart began to malfunction.
The outlook was bleak, but another miracle was in store and a second donor heart was identified.
Once again, Ashley went through a multi-hour surgery. Now, her body is operating on her third heart in less than a week.
This time, the surgery was successful and the recovery is moving along well. Ashley was unable to attend her grandfather’s funeral last week, but she is getting stronger with prospects for a bright and hopeful future.