General
10 year liver kidney transplant anniversary for our 12 year old son
10 years ago today (June 5th), my son came out of a 13 hour surgery where he received a liver and kidney transplant. My son (Matthew) was 2 years old at the time and his donor (Brandon) was a 22 year old Army Veteran who had been involved in a car accident. Brandon's organs saved 5 lives and his tissue enhanced the lives of many more.
We have been blessed to know our donors family and get to know who Brandon was as more than just our donor. We are very close and their extended family has become our extended family. We celebrated this 10 year transplant anniversary by inviting them to church with us yesterday and we had a special dedication blessing for Brandon and his family. The best thing was when our son went in front of everyone in church and read a promise he made to his donor mom. We had this promise placed on a special plaque along with pictures of our donor with his mom and Matthew with his donor's mom. We spent the rest of the day relaxing together and visiting while we watched Matthew swim and play in the pool. It was such an incredible day. Our donor's mom said she has been so blessed with our family and gets to watch her son grow up again in my son. She is at peace with his passing and knows "God's Hand has been in this from the start." She is thankful to have faith in her life and knows she will see her son again. Until then, she will continue to advocate for organ donation and share their story and how it joined our story and the beautiful gift of transplant.
