Musings: At age 6, my daughter's organs were donated
The Wolters: Maya, Dwight Lee and Casey one year before Maya's death. Credit: Wolter family photo
I received a call one evening and was asked to come to the hospital immediately, where a doctor and a police officer informed me that my 6-year-old daughter and her 10-year-old brother were in a car crash. Maya was dead and Casey badly injured. After saying goodbye to my daughter, I went to the pediatric unit and waited for my son to wake from surgery. I knew he would recover, but I did not know how to tell him his little sister was dead.
As I waited, an organization called and sensitively asked me to donate my daughter’s eyes and heart valves for transplanting into two other children. I wept into the phone. Then I thought of Maya’s beautiful eyes and loving heart. Through my decision on her behalf, she became a donor. I know Maya would have agreed. She was always a giving and loving little girl. She would never hesitate to help other children in life; why would she feel any different in death?
Because of my daughter, one child’s heart beats and another child’s eyes see. Maya’s death resulted in the gift of life. Our family’s loss was a gain for two other families. Our sadness was their source of joy.
There is a chronic shortage of donated human organs. Seventeen people in this country die each day waiting for an organ transplant. Someone is added to the waiting list every eight minutes as people pass away, taking with them what they will never need: their body.
Some desperate people offer money to indigent people in poor countries willing to sacrifice a kidney so they can feed their families. People sometimes have organs taken without their consent. Because of the chronic shortage of donated human tissue and organs, pigs have body parts compatible with humans and are being tested for harvesting of their organs. Donations by people will help.
April is National Organ Donation Month. In addition to full body donation, specific organs and tissue can be designated for donation. People can become organ or tissue donors by visiting the state Donate Life Registry. My son, Casey, and I have become donors who will someday make a gift to those we will never meet.
— The Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter, Patchogue
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