A True Gift of Love

The other day was like any other....I was getting things done around the house and had the noon day news on. My attention was turned to the television when they started talking about a teenage girl who was killed in a ski accident last March. The news story was about how this girl was an organ donor and how a 40 year old mother of two in Arizona received her heart. The parents of the girl that was killed traveled to Arizona to meet this women that received their daughters heart. When the two women met, they embraced and cried for quite sometime. Then the 40 year old women pulled out her stethoscope and put it up to her heart. She allowed the mother of the young girl to hear her daughters heart beating. As I was standing there tears were flowing down my cheeks. My thoughts turned to my sweet sister, Katie. She too was killed in a ski accident and was also an organ donor. We have not met those that received her organs, but we have been sent "anonymous" newspaper clippings and notes from people reporting on one particular girl that received Katie's organs. Because of my sister this young girl was able to have a new and fresh start.

After hearing the above story, I felt an immediate connection with this family who lost their young daughter. I went to the website http://www.taylorsgift.org/to research their story. Surprisingly I found that this girl died from head trauma caused by a skiing accident on March 15, 2010. My sister also died from head trauma on March 15th caused by a ski accident.

Up until this terrible accident happened with my sister, I never thought about organ donation or even being a donor for that matter. I have personally seen the difference organ donation can make to an individual and a families life. Because of people like my sister and this other young girl, others are given a second chance and an opportunity to live a full and happy life. I can't imagine a better gift than that. Have you thought about being an organ donor?