Mellanie- Donor Mom

October 10, 2016, when me and my family headed to church, who knew it would be considered our last time at church as a family of five.  Jaden would have a stroke later on that day, shortly after bringing groceries in the house from our weekly trip to the store.

Jaden was acting silly, laughing about why he shouldn’t have to pack all the grocery in the house.  I informed him that I paid for them, so he and his brother can pack them in, we all were laughing and carrying on like many family’s that Sunday afternoon until Jaden walked to his bedroom and fell to the floor.

Upon entering the hospital I had know idea I would later be considering donating my, otherwise healthy 17 year old son’s, organs. With so many questions as to how, why, and what caused my son to have a stroke, the doctors began explaining to me that he had a catastrophic brain bleed with the only option being brain surgery. After the 6th hour of surgery, he was brought down on life support for the family to gather and be with Jaden.

Standing in the hallway of the PICU I heard a family speaking of organ donation and how an organ would save there child. I spoke to other family members about this as a possibility for Jaden and the Organ donor staff spoke with me and provided tons of information that made my decision easy.

For 17 years i had the pleasure to raise a beautiful human being, name Jaden. I feel 17 years were not enough with this amazing kid, but he had a higher calling.

Jaden was the quite kid, he never gave anyone any problems he had a smile that lit up a room (when we could get him to smile). He accessed every situation like his favorite super hero Spider-Man, using his spidey-sense.  Jaden was a gentle and sweet soul who also had a adventurous side. He loved scary movies and mountain dew. The love he had for his 3 little brothers was awesome. He took his title as BIG BROTHER very seriously, even telling me how to raise them. When it came to taking care of his brothers we called him lion King.

Choosing to donate Jaden’s organs was a wonderful idea because Jadens last gift to the world was him being an able to help others live on. Being a organ donor is something we all should do because with every loss, we can help someone else live on.  We can give one mother another day with her child. The gift of Life is amazing. Become a Registered Organ Donor.