donor family

Tuesday’s Tale: I Am So Proud of My Daughter

By Kathy Harrington, Lindsay’s Mom (Donor Family)

On Friday, September 13, 2002, my life became forever changed. My beautiful daughter, Lindsay Alyce Jones, died of a brain aneurysm.

Lindsay went to school that day and decided to go work out with her best friend Morgan. She suddenly experienced an excruciating headache, said she did not feel well, and collapsed. I was called immediately and was at our health club within minutes. (more…)

Hollie Parham’s Christmas Miracle

Billie Parham’s daughter Hollie was quickly deteriorating while waiting for a liver transplant on Christmas Eve, 1997. As she walked out of Hollie’s hospital room and pressed the elevator button to leave for what she thought was the last time, Billie was stopped by hospital staff. “We’ve got good news for you,” Billie recalls the hospital staff saying. “We’ve got a Christmas present for your daughter. A liver has been donated for Hollie.”

Fifteen years later, thanks to a donor’s gift, Hollie is healthy enough to celebrate the holiday season with her family. “Christmas is about giving,” Hollie said. “For me, it’s even stronger because someone gave me my life back. This was the best possible gift anyone could receive on Christmas day.”

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‘Shawls of Support’ Provided to Donor’s Family at the Time of Donation

In the spring of 2012, Lifeline of Ohio, at the direction of bereavement services coordinator, Jenny Hoover, began its Shawls of Support program, which will provide a handmade shawl to the family of those who give the “Gift of Life” through donation. Lovingly made by donor families, recipients and volunteers, each shawl is entirely unique in color and style and is made by hand. After a summer filled with crocheting and knitting, Lifeline of Ohio has received enough shawls to begin handing them out to donor families. The shawl will be provided to the donor family by Lifeline of Ohio staff when they meet in person at the hospital to discuss their loved one’s donation, or mailed to the family’s home if there is no hospital meeting. (more…)

My Sweet Brother, Greg

By Colleen Swabby, donor sister

February 10, 1999 changed my life. I was relaxing at home when my mother called me and said she was hearing sirens and she felt it in her heart that something had happened to my brother, Greg. I thought to myself there was no way, that Greg was okay, but at the same time I had to go to her.

I didn’t even change out of my pajamas and within ten minutes I was with my mom walking to the intersection at the top of her street. There were people everywhere, firetrucks, police cars and an ambulance taking my brother away. He had been racing home to catch the second half of the Buckeyes basketball game and he had been hit by a car. (more…)

Grateful for the Gift

Last week I met one of our donor mothers and Donate Life Ambassadors. I was called to stop by the Communications department to meet her because she lives in my small town and although I have heard her name many times I had not had an opportunity to introduce myself. (more…)

Donor Family Honored

At today’s staff meeting, Lifeline of Ohio presented donor mother, Diane Knotts, with a framed floragraph of her son.  That floragraph (portrait made of organic material) rode on the Donate Life float in the 2010 Parade of Roses in Pasadena, Calif this past January.  (more…)

My Son’s Legacy

By Debbie Sohovich

My message is one of hope and love. My heart aches with the memories of my son, Dustin, but swells with pride and love that his spirit, through the gift he gave to others, lives on.

On April 30, 2007 my life, as I knew it, changed forever. My first born and only son, Dustin Hart, 27 years old, was in his car at a stop sign and was shot in the head. (more…)

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