Did you know that everyone has the power to save eight lives through organ donation and heal 125 more through tissue donation? Start the new year off right by saying “yes” to organ, eye, and tissue donation!
Life Connection of Ohio is the non-profit organization that serves families and saves lives through organ donation in northwest and west central Ohio. Life Connection of Ohio educates the community about the importance of donation; partners with more than 70 hospitals and medical facilities to coordinate donation; and offers grief support to families before, during, and after donation.
Less than two percent of people die in a way that allows organ donation to be possible, so Life Connection of Ohio is focused on maximizing every gift.
Hospitals contact Life Connection of Ohio to provide notification of every death. The organ recovery coordinator on call receives information about the person and determines whether they are medically suitable for organ, eye, and/or tissue donation. If so, the coordinator obtains the person’s wishes from the Ohio Donor Registry, if available, and the family services coordinator on call consults the family. If the person’s wishes are not available, the family services coordinator offers the opportunity for donation to the family.
If the decision is made for donation, the person’s medical/social history, blood tests, and other medical evaluations are coordinated to determine which organs and/or tissues can be donated, and the matching process begins. Once recipients are identified, the organ recovery coordinator arranges for the surgical recovery of organs and/or tissues. The end result: a donor hero is honored for their generosity, a family is supported through Life Connection of Ohio’s aftercare program, and recipients receive second chances at life.
One of those recipients is Tater Hicks.
Tater was born prematurely at 25 weeks, which caused numerous health issues. Necrotizing enterocolitis led to intestinal tissue inflammation, so he underwent a bowel resection that left him with 58 centimeters of his small intestine. Tater’s body was not absorbing or digesting food properly, so he was diagnosed with short gut syndrome. That meant he needed total parenteral nutrition and lipids, which he received intravenously. Tater endured a patent ductus arteriosus to correct the abnormal flow between his aorta and pulmonary artery. He also had a cricoid split procedure to widen and correct his airways. And he was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease, which left him extremely jaundiced.
Life was not normal for Tater, who lived in the hospital until he was eight months old and, afterward, was hospitalized every month for the next five years. “I remember one week where literally every patient in the NICU passed away except Tater,” Tater’s mom, Narqueisha Johnson, said. “I cried every time someone passed away and couldn’t help but think, ‘Is Tater next?’” When Tater was three years old, he was placed on the national transplant waiting list for a multi-organ transplant, which was his only hope for survival. His prognosis was very grim. “We got to the point of a doctor telling us it was okay to let him go,” Narqueisha said.
On a Thursday around 7:00 a.m., Narqueisha’s phone rang and everything changed. On April 15, 2010, Tater received the lifesaving multi-organ transplant that he so desperately needed. “Right after his transplant, he was giving a thumbs up and a peace sign, which made me feel better because I knew he was going to be okay,” Narqueisha said.
When Tater returned home, he quite literally had nothing holding him back anymore. “My whole life changed,” he said. “I went from basically living in the hospital to being able to enjoy life. Not only can I now ride a bike and a hoverboard, but I can simply just walk and run freely without being attached to any tubes, poles, or a backpack full of pumps. I can now eat by mouth, and I love to eat!”
Tater’s favorite foods include pizza, Chipotle chicken burrito bowls, bourbon chicken, fried chicken, seafood boils, and corn. In addition to eating, Tater enjoys playing basketball, skating, dancing, watching sports, playing video games, and making people laugh with his larger-than-life personality.
Narqueisha is constantly amazed by Tater, whose quality of life is “one thousand times better since his transplant.” She stated, “He’s able to do everything that we can do. I’m forever grateful that someone gave him a second chance at life.”
Narqueisha wrote a letter to Tater’s donor family, but she has not heard back. “The biggest thing I want to tell them is thank you. Their decision to give the greatest gift made a difference. Their child is still living on in Tater,” Narqueisha said. “Our lives will never be the same, and we are forever grateful and blessed by our donor angel.”
Tater is grateful for his second chance at life. “I’m alive today because someone said ‘yes’ to organ donation. I am forever grateful for my donor angel,” Tater said. “I will shoot to do my very best because that’s the least I can do for my donor.”
Tater and Narqueisha volunteer for Life Connection of Ohio, the non-profit organization that serves families and saves lives through organ donation. To learn more about organ donation or to say “yes” to saving lives, visit lifeconnection.org. Kara Steele is Director of Community Services for Life Connection of Ohio. ✲
