Donating a Heart

My eight-week old son is a Donor Hero. He donated his heart to a young child in Michigan.

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, there were 3,578 people waiting for a heart transplant as of November 29th.

When we knew that our son was going to pass away, his doctors asked us to consider donating his organs. We knew that there would be seven potential recipients but did not know what was going to where or to whom.

The only thing we could think of in that moment were the other parents like us who had a sick child. They wanted their children to get better. Ours would not, but we hoped that theirs would.

The experience taught me many things about being a father and spouse. Even though I was going through a traumatic experience I still had the responsibility of being a source of strength and stability for my family. It also taught me that we have a responsibility to do what's right even if we don't know what the outcome will be, and the importance of empathy for others.