Dear Donor Family

Dear Donor Family:

It is three months now since your loved one died. I can’t begin to imagine how you face each  morning or get through each day. I pray for you each day and thank God for you and ask this  peace for you.

Almost twenty-six years ago we had a baby who almost died at ten days old but thanks to an  inspired doctor he lived. At three weeks he had heart surgery. His early days were tough and I spent many nights lying awake planning his funeral. But he lived. At three years he had more heart surgery and for a little while he was able to live a life like any other small boy. But, as he grew, his heart got weaker and as a teen he was walking not running. At 17 he had his third open-heart surgery and this time he was told that they had done all they could. His heart was failing and in time he would need a transplant. He took lots of medication and tried to lead a normal life though it broke my heart to see him sit at home when his brother and his friends went off to play basketball.

Things deteriorated steadily, the medications weren’t helping and the doctors said it was time to look for a new heart. We struggled with the thought that someone must die to give my son life. I again lay awake at night thinking of that family who would go through so much pain, loss, and grief. But my son needed to go on that list. His hope lay in the midst of all that pain.

He waited for a very short while before the phone rang and he was told that a suitable heart had been found for him. We went to the hospital and he and I spent the afternoon together talking about  nothing and everything; thinking of your family even though we will never meet you. We talked  about hopes and fears. We laughed together and we cried together.

The next day we visited him in the intensive care unit and he was pink and warm, almost like a newborn. He was covered in intravenous tubes and linked to all sorts of machinery but things had gone well and he was full of hope.

Today he played eighteen holes of golf. Last week he went swimming. We try to walk every day.  He doesn’t get out of breath. He doesn’t have to recover for two hours every time he walks. He has energy. He feels good.

There are no words for us to thank you. Your loved one and you have given us a gift that is beyond  price. For the first time my son will be able to do as other young men do. He has the chance to live life to the full not just sit in the shadows.

You will continue to be in our thoughts and our prayers. Your loved one will never be forgotten, nor will your sacrifice ever be taken for granted. You are among the great heroes of our day and with all our hearts we thank you.

Yours sincerely,

A parent