Teresa Roberts - Donor Mother
A family's difficult choice helps others to live
By Sue Guinn Legg, Johnson City Press Staff Writer
 When 21-year-old Doug Roberts of Gray died in a car crash last November, his obituary listed his survivors, his education, his employment and his church.
What the notice did not tell was how the young man's parents, in the midst of their grieving, turned their son's tragic death into a miraculous gift of life for scores of unknown others.
I couldn't believe my son was dead and I was standing there being asked to donate his organs, Teresa Roberts recalls of that fateful morning at Holston Valley Medical Center when she first learned her son had not made it.
Later in the day, at home and surrounded by friends who had gathered around her, Roberts spoke again with the donor services worker.
Because Doug's accident had occurred several hours before his body was discovered, his vital organs had been lost, the empathetic caller told her. Then, for the next half hour, she listened as the woman explained of how more than 100 other of her son's tissues and organs could be used to restore health and function to others.
His corneas would restore someone's sight. His heart valves would heal a defective heart. Grafts from his skin would cover the scars of someone critically burned. His bones, tendons and ligaments would restore function to the severely disabled.
Precious, final gifts from their son would ease suffering and improve the quality of life for people suffering the crippling effects of trauma and disease.
His dad and I decided to let them take them. If someone else could use them, so be it, she said.
The gentleness, thoroughness and kindness shown to me and the professional handling of the donation process made a powerful difference for me during that tragic time, Roberts said.
Donation does not take away the pain of grief but it allows me to feel something positive came from an otherwise senseless death. It has made coping somewhat easier.
I always said they would have to bury me if something ever happened to one of many kids because I couldn't handle it. By the grace of God and help from these donor service folks is the only way I'm getting through this.
The still grieving mother is taking the opportunity of this month's observation of National Donate Life month to tell her son's story for the first time to help promote organ and tissue donation.
Sharing facts on donation, she noted that 16 people die every day while awaiting an organ transplant and that one donor can enhance the lives of more than 100 people.
Encouraging others to donate and to talk to their families about organ donation, she said, "All it takes is signing the back of your driver's license."
"Nothing I can do or say can replace my son, but promoting organ and tissue donation seems to help me make some sense of Doug's tragic death and brings me something of value."
Douglas left his family the comfort of knowing that part of him lives on. He gave others a chance for a new or better life. He prevented others from knowing the tremendous pain of losing someone they love.
One of the most remarkable success stories in the history of medicine, transplantation provides hope for thousands of people with organ failure while tissue donation helps hundreds of thousands more live fuller lives, notes a brochure from the Mountain Region Donor Services office in Gray. Unfortunately the need for donations is much greater than the actual number of donors. Commitment to donation can save lives.
For more information on organ and tissue donation or to sign a donor card, contact Mountain Region Donor Services at 915-0808 or (888) 562-3774.
Reprinted with permission from the author and the Johnson City Press. |
THE ROBERTS' STORY