No Greater Gift

GENUINE. HILARIOUS. KIND. DEDICATED. COMPASSIONATE. HARDWORKING. JOYFUL. Those are just a few of the words Todd Nikolai’s family uses to describe him.

Todd’s wife, Wendy, said her husband was a true giver who loved helping his neighbors, friends, and family. People were drawn to him because of his generous nature as well as his incredible sense of humor.

“Many winters ago, Todd was walking across a busy local street to get to work, and he was in a hurry. It was an icy, snowy day, and in his rush, he slipped and fell flat on his back in the road, right in front of a full—and fortunately stopped—RTA bus,” Wendy said. “Half-covered with snow and road muck, as well as embarrassment, he picked himself up off the ground, turned to all of the open-mouthed bus passengers, and took a bow. The bus erupted in laughter, or so his story goes, and he laughed at himself and proceeded to work. He was always a kid at heart, and he never took himself too seriously.”

That sense of humor carried both Todd and Wendy through some scary medical issues. Todd had his second heart valve replacement a few months before his daughter, Carina, was born. Just a half hour after that procedure, a blood vessel burst, and he underwent emergency coronary bypass surgery. Wendy said it was a miracle he survived that day, and it was his humor and determination to be a good father that got him through. “He was driven by the birth of his child to be better and stronger. He wanted to be able to hold the baby, so he really worked through his health challenges with that as an incentive,” Wendy said.

When Wendy was eight months pregnant with Carina, in the middle of the night, she noticed something was moving around the ceiling fan. She woke Todd, who got out of bed, turned on the light, and saw a bat! “He was so funny. He told me to hide, so I pulled the covers over my head. He grabbed a broom, and half-dressed, this six-foot-four-inch, one-hundred-seventy-pound man did this weird made-up tribal dance. He kept chanting ‘Ooooooooooh, aaaaaaaaaah, ooooooooooh,’ and the bat disappeared,” Wendy said. “That was Todd!”

Something Todd took very seriously was being a father to Carina. “Once Carina was born, he was the happiest Daddy,” Wendy said. “He was just enthralled with Carina.”

But on June 3, 2008, Wendy’s world came to a halt when her 40-year-old husband died from a brain hemorrhage.

Wendy remembers speaking to someone from Life Connection of Ohio. She was surprised to learn that even with Todd’s medical history, he could still save lives through organ donation. After talking with the rest of Todd’s family and ensuring her Catholic faith supported donation, Wendy made the decision to let Todd’s giving spirit live on in others.

That day, Todd saved three lives through organ donation and healed more than 60 others through tissue donation. “It was such an uplifting experience for me,” Wendy said. “Donating my husband’s organs to give life to others lifted me through the grief of his death. I felt blessed.”

As a tribute to Todd’s gift of life, his siblings gifted Wendy a silver bracelet that spells out “Donate Life” with Todd’s initials on it. She volunteers for Life Connection of Ohio and encourages everyone to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors. “Organ donation is not only something that you do for yourself, but as a survivor, I can say it’s something that helps those you leave behind,” Wendy said. “It’s amazing to think that a little bit of him goes on and keeps other people alive. Not all of us can do that. It’s a privilege.”

And a little bit of him is still with Wendy in the form of Carina. Carina exhibits Todd’s mannerisms and looks like him, too. Carina has some memories of Todd, mostly from the last six months of his life. “Todd had a brain hemorrhage six months before he died, but he miraculously survived that. I honestly believe he was supposed to go then, but God gave us an extra six months, and because of that, Carina remembers her Daddy,” Wendy said.

A few months after Todd died, Wendy and Carina were eating pizza with Wendy’s sister, Kathy, and her future husband, Liam. Liam folded the crust of his pizza before he ate it, and Carina “gingerly touched Liam’s arm and said softly, ‘My Daddy used to eat his pizza that way.’” Carina also remembers doing animal-themed jigsaw puzzles with her Daddy.

Wise-beyond-her-years Carina is very proud of her father, and she is eager to register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor when she gets her driver’s license. “Knowing that Daddy’s final gift saved and improved so many lives—and feeling how much it has blessed us in his absence—I’m honored to carry on his legacy,” Carina said.

Todd’s family volunteers 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 register as a donor, visit lifeconnection. org.

Kara Steele is Director of Community Services for Life Connection of Ohio. ✲