Janie-Donor Wife

My husband Harvey who had just turned 47 had a stroke. He seemed to be improving, but then had another stroke. We had a little girl who had just turned 2 that was his pride and joy. I knew he was fighting hard.

The neurologist said things don’t look good at this point. We prayed and friends came beside and sang and played music hoping that his love for music would help. He just kept slipping farther away. I had KODA come in and was asking questions. I knew Harvey wanted to be a donor. We had talked about it prior to this. We had experience in our families and friends with being recipients and donors.

We have received letters from aftercare and letters from some recipients expressing their gratitude. It takes some of the sting out knowing another family didn’t have to go thru what our family did and that someone and their family have another chance.

I worked with David at KODA and he became my support at the hospital. I really don’t know how I would have handled it all myself. I felt like such a burden, but I was always greeted with a smile and made to feel like my questions were not burdening and they were there for me. I have since had several family members and friends reach out about they can be an organ donor because hearing the positive out of such a tragedy has touched their life.