What does it mean to “give the gift of life”? On April 18, the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership hosted a collaborative luncheon to explore that question. They brought in a panel of women whose lives have been affected by organ donation in different ways and had healthcare workers come to further educate about organ donation. The event was a collaboration among Viterbo, the Reinhart Institute, UW-Health in Madison, UW-La Crosse, Mayo Clinic Health System, and Gundersen Health System.
April is Donate Life Month, and it’s a cause that is almost universally promoted. According to the Reinhart Institute, “Ninety-five percent of Americans consider organ donation a good idea, yet only 58% take the steps to register as an organ donor.” So, the hosting groups believed that an event would be the best way to increase those rates. Giving the Gift of Life had booths and tables where people could sign up to be a donor, and they provided resources for people to learn more about the process. There was also a panel and luncheon in the FSPA Lobby with three women affected by organ donation followed by an information session from two healthcare workers. Jennifer Livingston was the mediator, and Tracie Cook and Renee Herbst were the healthcare workers who spoke afterwards.
Maria Roswell was the first woman on the panel. Her husband Carl passed away from an accident, which made him a candidate for organ donation. She recalls how during the incredible difficulty of losing her husband, organ donation helped her cope. She said, “It was like I took this big sigh of relief, and it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and it just seemed like it was okay.”
She went on to talk about the person who received her husband’s kidneys. She recalls a letter she opened on Mother’s Day from the woman, saying, “I opened this letter, and it was [three pages] of this woman explaining who she was and how grateful she was.” Carl’s liver recipient emphasized similar feelings of gratitude. She said, “Every year… I get an email from him [telling me] how grateful he is that he was able to send me this email because of his being alive.”
Beth Erickson was the next panelist, and she was the recipient of a heart. When she was a child, she battled bone cancer, and she had a congenital bicuspid aortic valve which she described as, “A hot mess waiting to happen.” In December 2019, she went to Disney World for her son’s band performance, and a week after they returned, on her birthday, she fell ill with what she believed was influenza. However, her condition continued to worsen by the day and her organs began to fail. She was put on dialysis and the organ transfer list, waiting patiently for a heart.
Near the end of December, she found a donor. But her journey was far from over. She had to recover in the transplant house for three months, and during that time, she nearly died of a stroke and had multiple seizures. Thankfully, in March 2020, she was sent home. Erickson said, “When you receive an organ you have to be first of all filled with gratitude and not sadness.”
She emphasized the importance of honoring the gift she was given, staying committed to her health and praying for the family of the donating person. She has reached out but has not had contact with that family, and says, “I respect that because everybody has their process.”
Jennifer Servais was the final panelist, and she is currently on the waitlist for a kidney, and she emphasized education on the transplant process. She went on the National Kidney Foundation’s website, and she found a mentor, who has helped her prepare. She said, “I haven’t even received a kidney yet and I am so grateful.”
A life can be permanently altered in a moment, which demands a reshaping of perspective when it does. When giving the gift of life to another, countless lives change, and gratitude necessarily follows. Despite the pain of disease or dialysis or death, donors and recipients were grateful for the gifts that they gave or were given, and their perspectives on life were forever altered because of it.
