Melissa- Donor Sister

On December 13, 2006 Brandon, his wife Jodi, and son Brandon Lee planned to have a family day!  Brandon told his son that he could stay home from school.  He and his wife planned to take the day off and spend as a family.  Unfortunately, Brandon never woke up that morning to do so.

Around 7:30 am, Jodi realized that something was very wrong with her husband.  She called 911 and they were able to get a heartbeat in order to transport him to the hospital.  After many tests, the Doctors told Jodi that Brandon had suffered a brain aneurysm.  Brandon was pronounced brain dead, and the doctors informed Jodi that he was only being kept alive by machines.

Devastated by the news, Jodi informed me of Brandon’s condition and I alerted the rest of our family.  We all flew to Naples (where they had recently moved to from Henry County KY) to be together during this difficult time in all of our lives.

Once we arrived at the hospital, we made the heart wrenching choice to donate Brandon’s organs.  During the process we learned that a man in Henry County needed a Kidney so we talked to the Organ Donation team and they made the appropriate arrangements to see if Brandon was a match.  It turned out that Brandon was, in fact, a perfect match!  His heart and liver were also donated to two people in Florida.

None of this was easy, as our hearts were shattered and it was a hart choice to make.  However, we knew what Brandon would want, and that was to help others.

It has been over 9 years, and his kidney and heart recipient are both going strong.  The liver recipient has not been able to stay in touch, so we are not sure about the status of her transplant.

We miss Brandon terribly.  Not a day goes by that he is not in my thoughts.  We made the right choice for him, and I am a registered organ donor as well.  There are so many people who are in need of an Organ Transplant.  Give them hope by joining the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry today!