LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A constant presence on my office desk, the “Gift of Life” medallion, serves as a poignant reminder of life’s preciousness and the act of sacrifice. The Gift of Life organization calls it a “donor medal” and says it’s a “commemoration for heroes: those who gave the gift of life through organ, eye or tissue donation. These medals are presented to donor families as a symbol that their loved one’s selfless decision to give to others will never be forgotten.”
Gift of Life Michigan, the state’s federally designated organ and tissue recovery program, underscores the profound impact of organ transplants. Over the past decade, more than 9,000 Michiganders have received life-saving organ transplants, with 90 lives rescued daily through organ transplants across the United States. Currently, approximately 104,000 individuals await organ transplants on the national waiting list.
One gift can do a lot for many.
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Remarkably, a single donor has the potential to save eight lives and improve the well-being of 75 more, as outlined in organ donor statistics from the Health Resources & Services Administration.
My father, Phillip Hamilton, who was a 56-year-old Air Force veteran and an MSU and Cooley Law School graduate, became one of those donors. His life ended abruptly on January 14, 1999, following a hemorrhagic stroke while clearing snow from our driveway in Holt, Michigan. I still remember my mom, Gloria, telling me that he had told her that he had “almost” finished the driveway. He was a workaholic much like myself and he wanted to get his snow blowing done.
After suffering the stroke, paramedics worked on him for about 20 minutes and then he was taken to Ingham Medical Hospital in Lansing (now McLaren) where my mom said he wasn’t treated for about an hour.
Precious time wasted.
She said the ER doctors did not understand the seriousness of what had happened and if she had known that the hospital wasn’t up to speed on stroke protocol, she would have asked that he be transported to Sparrow Hospital instead. She still wonders to this day why the medics didn’t decide to take him to Sparrow as she said it was “evident” to her that he had a stroke.
My dad was still alert when he arrived at the hospital and actually mentioned wanting a cigarette even though the effects of the stroke, being paralyzed on one side, wouldn’t have allowed him to take a puff (and neither would the hospital or my mom).
When my dad was finally given an MRI, that is when he “died” on the table and was put on life support. The doctors explained to my mom that there was only about a one in a million chance that he’d ever be able to be taken off the respirator.
I was living in Nashville, Tennessee at the time and my mom and I decided over the phone to take him off life support – and to donate his organs while they were still viable. The next morning, my uncle
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went to the hospital to be with my mom and by around 8 pm that evening, the doctors were harvesting my dad’s organs.
Organ procurement was a new thing for this hospital.
The hospital, my mom explained, had never been involved in organ procurement before. They had to put a team together for all of the organs and tissues involved. My mom had told them to take anything they could use. That included the kidneys, part of my dad’s liver, a cornea and other vital components that were donated to the sounds of the MSU fight song which my mom had requested.
The profound impact of my dad’s organ donation extended well beyond the future donation recipients, however. One of the surgeons involved conveyed the emotional toll on the medical staff who were accustomed to preserving life rather than contributing to the end of one, explaining to my mom that it was extremely difficult on all the people involved that day.
My husband ended up in same hospital, on the same floor, as my dad.
When the weather cleared up after my dad had died, me and my husband, Dave, drove from Tennessee to Michigan. My husband ended up having a heart attack in Holt at my childhood home less than a week after my dad had died.
Dave ended up at the same hospital on the same floor as where my dad had been – most likely with some of the same medical staff. He pulled through and is still alive and kicking in Traverse City today even after suffering another heart attack years later. Me and my mom think that he has had an extra special guardian angel looking out for him over the years, as have we all, named Phil.
Reminders of my dad.
There are many things that remind me of my dad besides the Gift of Life medallion. I also think of him when I smell a campfire. Much of my growing up included camping in northern lower Michigan (my favorite being the Fisherman’s Island campground in Charlevoix.)
Our campsites were always the best looking around. My dad, who was a “cleanaholic” would actually rake the campsite and meticulously set up his stacks of camp fire wood. We always had the neatest and cleanest campsite around – with my dad leaving it better than we found it.
That’s where my dad is now – with his ashes scattered on one of our favorite lakefront campsites that we would vacation on.
In addition to traveling around to visit Michigan campgrounds, I was also quite the world traveler during the beginning of my life. Because my dad was in the Air Force, I was born in Spain and I went all over Europe with my parents – France, Italy, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany, Austria…I even held up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. After coming home to Michigan, we ended up in Holt where my mom still lives to this day.
Confirmation about our decision.
My mom said that she had never discussed organ donation with my dad during all of those years together in Holt. When the time came to decide about organ donation, it was a decision that was made by me and my mom. However, she said a few weeks after my dad died while going through his paperwork she found a card that said “Don’t take your organs to heaven. Heaven knows we need them here.’”
She took at as a sign that we had done the right thing and that he would have approved of our decision.
Years later, my dad is still making a difference.
The decision to donate organs is a decision that means a lot to many donor recipients and their families – and often it’s a long-lasting one. That is why I’m taking this opportunity to ask you to think about signing up to be an organ donor. If you are interested in signing up, you can click here and add your name to the donor registry.
Our family knows first hand how important those donations are. My mom receives cards from one of my dad’s donation recipients every year – a female welder who received my dad’s kidney. The longevity of the transplanted organ remains uncertain but the knowledge that she is still alive more than 25 years later is a gift to all of us.
