The parents of a toddler who was killed last year were able to have an emotional meeting with the 6-year-old whose life was saved when he received their late son’s lungs through organ donation.
“He just ran in front of the van as it was leaving the driveway,” his father, Ibrahim, told the news stations. “And that was it. I tried stopping him, I just missed him. I seen him go under.”
The toddler spent 10 days in the intensive care unit until his parents made the heartbreaking decision to remove him from life support.
Around that time, another mother, Tatiana Johnson, was awaiting news about a lung transplant for her ailing 6-year-old son, Mason. Because Brooke and Ibrahim chose to make Zane’s organs available for donation upon his passing, Tatiana received word that a pair of lungs had come in for her boy.
While the donation brought relief to the family, Tatiana admits she felt sorrow for the parents who had experienced the loss of their child. Because Australian law keeps organ donations anonymous, she had no idea who Mason’s life-saving gift had come from, that is, until she saw a news report on social media about Zane’s death, and Brooke and Ibrahim’s decision to donate his organs.
That’s when she made the decision to reach out to the grieving parents, just days after their son’s death, to thank them for saving Mason’s life. Though, Tatiana admits, she was initially apprehensive to do so, as it is against the law, and because of how Brooke and Ibrahim might react.
“I was in two minds about it,” Tatiana told 60 Minutes. “I didn’t want to add any more pain, that was the last thing I wanted to do.”
But when she sent the message to Brooke and Ibrahim, revealing to the couple who their son’s lungs had gone to, they were delighted.
“I know it’s just a body part,” Brooke told the news outlet,” but it’s something that I grew inside of me for nine months and a part of Zane and to see where it went, I think that’s important.”
The emotional experience further cemented Brooke’s feelings about choosing to donate Zane’s organs, and now she and Tatiana are advocating for laws that would allow the families of organ donors and recipients to meet.
“In the heat of the moment when the doctors explain to you what’s involved in organ donation, it makes you think ‘no’ – but it is so rewarding,” she told 60 Minutes. “When you come out the other end, like when we got to meet Mason and see that he is living a wonderful life because of Zane, it brings tears to your eyes.”
About 20 people a day die awaiting organ transplants, according to theAmerican Transplant Foundation, and there are over 115,000 people currently on the waiting list to receive a life-saving organ. One donor can save up to eight lives, the foundation says, and can save or enhance the lives of a hundred others.
In all, Mason and four other children were able to receive a transplant from Zane that would help to change the course of their lives. Brooke also revealed that the family of a young girl who received Zane’s kidney had reached out to let her know the girl had just turned a year old.
“We feel good,” she said, “and it brings us great comfort.”
source: people.com
