Donor Stories

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Louise Whitfield

On his 50th birthday, Sidney started to feel very ill and crawled next door for help. An ambulance rushed him to the hospital, but the effects from a massive stroke had already taken the toll on Sidney’s brain and he died shortly thereafter.

Autumn Dodds

Quinton and Daria Dodds experienced what no parents should have to endure: the tragic loss of their daughter, Autumn, at just two months old. As heart-breaking as it was, they didn’t even have to think twice about organ donation. Their generosity provided life for so many other families. “It was a bittersweet time,” says Daria, “but we knew it was the right thing to do - to help others so they wouldn’t have to suffer a loss.” Soon after Autumn’s death, they made the decision to adopt their son.

Gyla Adamson

Delayne was a beautiful, giving person. She had a smile that was contagious and was involved in every sport and activity at Osborn High School. In fact, the year she decided to become an organ donor, she decided to promote it at school to encourage her peers to become organ donors. No one would have thought that during her senior year on Homecoming afternoon, a tragic, senseless car accident would take her life.

Cody Shaw Prewitt

Cody Shaw Prewitt, was a 16-year old from Pleasant Hill, Missouri. Cody was a star football player, excellent student, and the best son anyone could ask for. Sadly, Cody died tragically in a car accident in 2004. However, he became an instant hero by becoming an organ, tissue and eye donor to seven recipients. Cody’s mother, Teri Whiting, says she is grateful that even though years have passed since his death, Cody is still being talked about. “As a mother, more than anything, I don’t want people to forget Cody, and what a special person he was,” said Teri.

Angele Ashley

As a dialysis nurse for more than 10 years and a renal transplant coordinator, Angele had no idea how her career would come full circle. On September 11, 2006 her mother, age 50, was hospitalized with pneumonia. After a long rehabilitation, her mother was able to enjoy religious services with her family on Easter Sunday in 2007. During the service celebration her mother collapsed and never regained consciousness. “My mom was such a giving person,” says Angele. “Even when she didn’t have much, she would still find a way to give to others.

Lewis Merrill & Debra Callaway

In 2003, Debra Callaway sat curled up at home reading her New Yorker magazine. At 49 and in good health, she came across an article that inspired her. She read of a man who did an incredible and selfless act of kindness - he donated his kidney to an anonymous recipient. She learned about the alarming number of people on the donor waiting list - and that anyone could survive with one healthy kidney. Debra decided to donate and would have then, except that she had recently had malaria. For her to pass as a donor she would have to wait three long years.