So Many Lives Touched
Every year I have the privilege of assembling the photo tribute for the Donor Family Recognition. This year, it got me thinking.
These photos don’t just represent the donors, but also the lives they touched. Each individual photo shown at the event carries with it family and friends left behind. I think, “How many people?” The pictures also represent the transplant recipients who received the “Gift of Life” through that individual’s donation. Each of these recipients has family and friends who have also been impacted by these gifts. Again I think, “How many people?”
New quilt squares made to honor donors were displayed at the Donor Family Recognition event.
Not only are family and friends of donors and recipients impacted by these donations, but all those in the hospital who care for these heroes, the people who coordinate donation, and the surgeons who are able to transplant the organs and tissue are touched by this one individual in the photo.
They say a picture paints a thousand words… Well when I look these pictures, I think this person touched a thousand lives, or more.
I thank all of our donor families who have shared the more than 350 photos and numerous quilt squares for our recognition event last week. While I did not have the pleasure of knowing these people in life, I am glad to know them as heroes of donation through their photos and through the stories you have shared over the years.
I hope our donor families realize what incredible legacies their loved ones left. They have impacted thousands of others lives through the generous decision to say yes to organ and tissue donation.
– Diane Loomis, Recovery Services Secretary