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My sister's decisions before her death made an impact after she

  • Date Submitted: Nov 2, 2021
  • Category: Organ Donation

“ My favorite saying is donate your organs, heaven knows we need them here.”

Our family experienced tragedy a few years ago. We lost my little sister to suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound. This was a tragedy in more ways than one because she was a single mother with three small children. Her death was unexpected and even though I am in the medical field, I did not once think of organ donation during this time. We received the phone call from LOPA and the phone was handed to me by my family. My first thought was yes because I know my sister and her life was all about helping others. She would give her last dime to someone in need but I never spoke to her about organ donation. She was younger than me and I never thought this information would ever be helpful. The first thing I did was ask my mother for her driver's license to see if she was a registered donor. I was very happy to see the red heart and know that this was her personal wish. When you are alive and able to decide this for yourself please do. Take this burden off of your family. The fact that my sister did this of her own free will made me feel good knowing we were doing what she wanted. Her children have begun to mend and we have fun talking about how she lives on in the lives of others and how even though we have lost her she has managed to continue helping others. My favorite saying is donate your organs, heaven knows we need them here.

Personal stories are used by permission for use on this page only. The sharing of the personal organ donation story by LOPA is done to commemorate organ donation awareness month and to encourage people to become organ donors. The personal stories may not be reproduced in any form or medium or otherwise distributed or used without written permission of LOPA.