Richmond, California cop saves lives after dying in cruiser crash

This heartwarming event was taking place just as I was leaving San Francisco to return home after attending a meeting on the importance of research in lung transplantation.

Richmond cop saves lives, even after his own.
Susan Moody, widow of Bradley Moody, hugs Michael Lause of Livermore as the officer's mother, Elizabeth, watches

By Carolyn Jones San Francisco Chronicle

Her eyes welling with tears, Susan Moody reached toward Michael Lause and tentatively, gently placed her hand on his chest.

"It makes me feel like I'm touching Bradley," said Moody, whose husband, Richmond police Officer Brad Moody, died Oct. 7 after his cruiser crashed on a rain-slicked road while he was responding to a fellow officer's call for help.

Lause, 54, held Moody as she wept on his chest. Inside that chest was her husband's lung.

"It's amazing - my husband saved this man's life," she said. "He was a true hero. It gives me comfort knowing, in a way, he lives on."

Lause is one of five people to receive Brad Moody's organs. Three recipients and their families gathered at Chabot College in Hayward on Saturday to meet the Moody family and members of the Richmond Police Department, an event that left virtually everyone in tears.

Lause, a former refinery worker who lives in Livermore with his wife and daughter, described the day as "overwhelming."

"The love I've gotten from his family and friends has just been amazing," he said. "I told them how I'm going to honor him by taking the best care of his lung that I can."

A former marathon runner, Lause contracted pulmonary fibrosis in 2004. The disease, which leads to scarring of the lungs, ultimately left him bedridden and unable to breathe without an oxygen tank. His doctors said he was days from death when Moody's lungs became available, and because they were both big men with the same blood type, the organ fit.

"In the hospital, my wife came in and saw I suddenly didn't have an oxygen tank. She said 'Oh my God,' and started crying tremendously," he said. "It was a wonderful feeling to give that to her."

Brad Moody's family also donated his pancreas, liver, heart and other lung. The Vacaville native had long ago decided he wanted to be an organ donor, his brother said Saturday.

"He wanted to continue on," Jamie Moody said. "He said if he could save lives after he was gone, he would."

The Lause and Moody families were joined by many other donor recipients and their families at Saturday's event, sponsored by the California Transplant Donor Network.

There were bouquets of roses, a bagpipe band, free Kleenex for wiping tears, and hugs that no one wanted to end.

Elizabeth Moody, Brad's mother, was especially gratified.

"We are very, very proud," she said of her son. "To know that Brad is still out there saving lives is so comforting. He was a hero to the end."

Brad Moody was not the only public safety veteran who donated his organs last year. Antwan Moore, a Modesto firefighter who died of a blood clot in his brain, gave his liver to David Morales, 53, an El Sobrante father of four who owns a dental laboratory.

"All I can say is that Antwan was a very giving, very selfless man," Morales said, as he gave Moore's wife a bouquet of flowers. "There's nothing I can do to replace him. But I can say 'Thank you.' "

Like Brad Moody, Moore wanted to continue saving lives after he died, his family said.

Moore's extended family, some of whom drove from Oregon for the occasion, said that meeting Morales - healthy, smiling, filled with gratitude - was an enormous comfort.

"It's like he's still here," said his mother, Dorothy Moore of Oakdale. "It's like a miracle taking place."

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants. One tissue donor can help up to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Heart/Lung transplant recipient meets donor family

Tom Susco (left) and his wife, Nancy, meet 65-year-old Paul Dean of Lahaina at the Kahului Airport. Dean received a new heart and lungs from the Suscos’ son Tim in August 2007. Photo: Claudine San Nicholas.

I can imagine the emotions that were in play during this heartwarming meeting. I never met my donor family (I wrote them a letter but received no response). If I ever did meet them I would tell them that their loved one did not die in vain because they were still living within me and that I would try to live the best life that I could so both their loved one and I would continue to live a long and fruitful life. Merv.

By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS MauiNews.com

KAHULUI - A Lahaina man with a new heart and lungs made an emotional connection Sunday with the couple who made his successful transplant happen.

Paul Dean, 65, struggled to find the words to describe his feelings after meeting Tom and Nancy Susco of Reston, Va., parents of the donor, Tim Susco.

Tim Susco died Aug. 15, 2007, at age 25 after suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm. His heart and lungs were donated to Dean, who in August 2007 had been told that he would not live past the end of the year without the organ transplants.

Tom and Nancy Susco had fulfilled a family agreement to donate Tim's organs at the time of their son's death.

When the Suscos mentioned plans to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary this fall in Hawaii, Dean and his wife, Grayce, jumped at the chance to meet face to face on Maui.

Donor families and donor recipients are never required to connect, let alone meet in person.

"For us, it wasn't optional," Paul Dean said. "For us, we just had to show some sort of appreciation and so we wanted to meet them. We'll never be able to pay them back but we can thank them."

Nancy Susco said she believed her family was blessed to have met the Deans and their family, including six children and 21 grandchildren.

"We are so lucky that they wanted to meet us," Nancy Susco said. "Even though the idea seems weird, it was really the right thing to do. They made us feel us comfortable and we're just overwhelmed."

"I was so happy," Gracye Dean said, about her husband meeting Nancy in particular. "He allowed her to cry and to grieve."

Both Tom and Nancy Susco described their initial meeting with Paul Dean as "overwhelming." The Suscos and Deans have since shared a meal together and they hope to meet again before the Deans leave Maui on Friday.

"It doesn't change the fact that Tim died but it does seem worthwhile," Tom Susco said. "I especially was very nervous. You want it to go well, but you don't know until it happens."

Nancy Susco said she and her family never hesitated about organ donation because they had discussed it with both sons (Tim has an older brother, Tom) when they were high school seniors and first signed up to be organ donors.

As a nurse, Nancy Susco knew from talking to Tim's doctors that her son's survival from the brain aneurysm was virtually nil.

"We weren't going to get the miracle we wanted," she said.

The family then decided to carry out Tim's wishes to have his organs donated. A 3-year-old and a 17-year-old split his liver, the only organ in the body that could go to two people because of its ability to regenerate.

Two adult women each received a kidney. Two people received corneas, and Tim's skin and bones were placed into a donor bank that assists burn victims and people who suffer from major bone injuries.

The Suscos said organ donations can assist as many as 50 people. The gift is even more significant considering the impact the donation has on a recipient's family as well, Nancy Susco said.

The Suscos have been in contact through letters with most of Tim's organ recipients and their families. Paul Dean and his family are the first of the receiving families they've met.

Paul Dean received his new heart and two lungs on Aug. 17, 2007, two days after Tim Susco's death.

"Everything's good," Dean said of his condition today. "I feel great."

In November 2006, doctors offered a grim prognosis. He had suffered an illness that damaged his heart and caused steady deterioration to his lungs. His surgeon initially rejected the idea of lung surgery, in part because Dean's heart had been damaged by the muscle disease initially diagnosed years before.

At 6 feet tall, Dean was a robust 285-pound heavy equipment operator who worked for Hawaiian Dredging for 27 years before retiring. Soon after, he was struck by the disease that that damaged his heart and spread to the lungs, causing bouts of shortness of breath that steadily worsened. By 2006, he was down to 150 pounds and was placed on oxygen 24 hours a day.

To move about, Dean had to use an electric scooter.

He has since given up the scooter, and only three months after his transplant, he was able to return home to Lahaina.

Earlier this year, he was able to have a wish fulfilled - to see the oldest of 21 grandchildren graduate from high school.

Paul and Grayce Dean continue to be active in the Boy Scouts by mentoring adult leaders. Grayce Dean assists Eagle Scouts and was especially impressed when she learned that her husband's benefactor had been an Eagle Scout.

Tim Susco was a 1999 graduate of South Lakes High School in Virginia and a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia. At the time of his death, he was working in Hollywood, Calif., having just received a promotion as a key assistant location manager on the TV show "Heroes."

The Susco family has multiple connections to health care. Father Tom is a pharmacist; Nancy, a nurse; brother Tom is a physical therapist. As an added response to the gifts from Tim, the Suscos established a Brain Aneurysm Awareness Foundation and have raised $70,000 for research in brain aneurysms and organ donation.

Both the Deans and Suscos have made it their mission to raise awareness about organ donation.

Paul Dean said he had not been aware of organ donation until his own illness made him a recipient. Since then, he has committed to organ donation promotion and recently assisted the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii with donor card signups at the Maui County Fair. The Deans' six adult children have all volunteered to be organ donors.

There are currently 364 people in the state waiting for an organ, according to the Hawaii center.

For more information about organ donation, call the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii toll-free at (877) 855-0603, or visit the Web site.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants. One tissue donor can help up to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Michigan honors organ donors

Gift of Life to remember organ donors

From HOMETOWNlife.com

With heavy hearts that continue to heal, donor families from across Michigan will gather Sunday, Oct. 19, as Gift of Life Michigan pays tribute to last year's organ and tissue donors at the Michigan State University Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing. Through the generosity of donor families, 862 Michigan patients received an organ transplant last year, including 37 children. Thousands more received cornea and tissue transplants.

Donor family members will bring a personalized quilt square to add to a series of Michigan Donor Family Quilts at an open house at 1 p.m. These woven treasures symbolize the individuality and essence of their loved ones who gave the ultimate gift. There are currently 24 completed donor family quilts.

The remembrance ceremony follows at 2 p.m. and concludes with a reception.

New this year, Gift of Life Michigan will provide free, chartered bus transportation to those coming from the Detroit area. The bus will pick up families at Providence Hospital's Medical Office Building in Southfield in the morning and return later in the day. There are more than 45 donor family members planning to take the bus. With the price of gas and a weakened economy, bus service will provide families who may not otherwise attend an opportunity to honor their loved ones.

This year several pediatric transplant recipients will participate in the ceremony, assisting donor families in writing personal messages to their deceased loved ones on a large felt heart which will be carried forward to begin the ceremony. The children will also share a few words of thanks for their transplants with the donor families. Among those attending are Abigail Uranga, 12, of Ann Arbor; Sarah Gravel, 9, of Madison Heights; Marisa Hammel, 5, of Flat Rock and Shay Ziff, 4, of Bloomfield Hills.

Gift of Life Michigan is the state's only full service organ and tissue recovery organization, which acts as the intermediary between donors, physicians and hospital staff. Gift of Life Michigan, in collaboration with the Michigan Eye-Bank, provides all services necessary for organ, tissue and eye donation. To sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry or update your registration in order to receive a red heart donor sticker for the front of your driver's license or state ID, visit Gift of Life Michigan or call (800) 482-4881.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants. One tissue donor can help up to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Heart and lung transplant recipient free of the debilitating asthma that almost killed him.

Brian Guy with children Zachary and Natalie

This is another feel good story about how lives are transformed by an organ transplant made possible by the generosity of a donor family.

From the Herald Sun, Australia:

By Robyn Riley

MELBOURNE father Brian Guy has a new lease of life. He has received a heart and lung transplant and is free of the debilitating asthma that almost killed him.

"From day one after the transplant I could breathe easily," Mr Guy, 43, said.

"I feel great."

Not so long ago Mr Guy's severely damaged lungs were functioning at a dangerous 13 per cent capacity and he feared he would not live to see his children grow up.

Now he can play football with son Zachary, 7, and enjoy the cuddles lavished on him by blue-eyed Natalie, 5.

"I don't have a better husband," wife Cathy, 41, said. "I have a new husband. Brian received an awesome gift."

He is relishing feeling fit and healthy for the first time in more than 20 years and says it is because of the donor and the donor's family whose generosity gave him back his life.

"I don't think you can put your gratitude into words," he said. "Thank you doesn't seem enough, but that's what I want to say to the donor's family."

Mr Guy's health problems started when he developed asthma at 22.

"I had gone away for the weekend with some friends to Geelong," he said. "We went out for the night and all of a sudden I couldn't catch my breath. A friend, an asthmatic, helped me with his inhaler."

But a few hours later Mr Guy was again struggling for air and he was rushed to hospital.

Doctors prescribed asthma medication and - for a while - life for the young chef returned to normal.

Asthma attacks were triggered by anything from temperature change to rye grass and his family life suffered.

"Even on a simple outing we had to stop two or three times so Brian could catch his breath," Mrs Guy said.

Then he developed a severe chest infection that did not respond to antibiotics.

"I couldn't shake it and then I suffered a massive asthma attack and woke up three days later in intensive care at The Alfred," Mr Guy said.

Two years ago, problems with asthma caused Mr Guy to require a lung transplant. And, while preparing him for a transplant list, it was found he also had heart problems.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

Your generosity can save up to eight lives through organ donation and enhance another 50 through cornea and tissue donation

Transplant recipient meets donor family

From News10Now in New York:

By Katie Morse
ONONDAGA COUNTY, N.Y. -- This past weekend, Robert Juneau, a recipient of a double lung transplant, competed in the 2008 Transplant Games in Pittsburgh. After winning two medals, Juneau went back to his hotel Tuesday night, where he began talking to a man he met outside.

"I noticed he had a pin on his shirt of a young man and I asked him if he was one of the donor families that was there and he told me that he was, that his son had died in an accident back in March of 2007," said Juneau.

Tim Packhem described his son, also named Tim, as a fun-loving high school student. He died in a skateboarding accident one day before Robert's transplant.

As the strangers kept talking, the coincidences got stronger, especially when Robert's wife mentioned a letter she had written to his donor family.

"At one point my wife was repeating one of the lines she had written and the family finished that sentence. At that moment we realized that I had their son's lungs, that their son had saved my life," Juneau said.

The chance meeting was nothing short of a miracle and Tim Packhem is convinced he knows whose idea it was.

"I honestly believe that my son, because it was a Tuesday night and the All-Star game was on and being the big baseball fan he was, he was watching the All-Star game and somehow he saw us getting together and he said 'I'm gonna set it up,'" said Tim Packhem.

"You think about this as a donor mom. You think about that moment. You think about what it will be like," said Paula Packhem, Tim's mother.

And both families realize Tim's amazing gift has brought them together forever.

"Before the games, I had that gold and silver laying on my chest. Now that's where Tim is. And I gave that gold and silver to his mom and dad, because I wasn't the one alone who won those medals. It was Tim and I who won those medals," said Juneau.

Tim Packhem told his parents he wanted to be an organ donor when he was applying for his driver’s license. He also donated his heart, kidneys and liver. He was 17.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

Your generosity can save up to eight lives through organ donation and enhance another 50 through cornea and tissue donation