Source: 13 WHO TV, Erin Kiernan, Reporter, Des Moine, Iowa
On the evening of November 20th, 2006 bright, funny, beautiful Erika Schwager walked out the door and never came home. A crash with a fire truck silenced the teenager's laughter.
"I went to the emergency room and was able to see Erika," says her mother Bette. "I told her I loved her and she squeezed by hand." Erika lived for several days but was brain dead. Her mother remembered how excited she'd been about choosing to be an organ donor when she'd gotten her drivers license. "So we were just doing what she desired, we didn't agonize over it. It was real easy for us," says Bette.
Ted Cochran is someone who's always needed an organ. From the time he was a toddler, doctors said he would eventually need a kidney transplant. "Ya know, it was challenging. A lot of pain, a lot of tests, and recovery." He'd gone through six surgeries by the time he was 12 but Ted was an active, happy kid who didn't complain.
When he was nineteen, septic shock caused severe damage to his already weakened kidneys. He was on a respirator for days and his body was shutting down. He eventually recovered but received horrible news a few years later. "It was over my lunch hour at a regular doctor's appointment," Ted remembers. "He told me, you will need a transplant in two years."
When Ted told his mom the news, she couldn't believe it. "It's just like someone kicked you in the stomach," says Carla Cochran. She spent her son's entire life worrying, and knew how serious the situation was. "I'm an ER nurse," she explains. "On quiet nights I would start playing the 'what if' game. What if. I knew what the waiting list was and at that time there were 262 Iowans waiting on a kidney." Only thirty transplants were happening each year.
Carla knew thousands of people died waiting and she wasn't going to let her son be one of them. "It was a decision I made in a heartbeat," she says of getting tested to see if she could donate to Ted. She was a match, and the transplant happened on August 29th of 2006. Ted was healthy for the first time in his life. "The energy I had, it was indescribable!" Ted exclaims. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not running a marathon or anything, but it's great!"
Ted ditched his old career plans and started "My Angel Foundation" a non-profit dedicated to promoting organ donor awareness. "Going through the transplant experience instilled a passion in me to honor my mother's gift and advocate for the thing that saved my life," he says. Ted got married last spring and his wife knows the experience made him the man he is today. "He really feels it was a blessing to go through what he's gone through," explains Bethany Cochran. "We both believe God puts people in certain places for a reason."
Bette Schwager believes it too. She knows that the greatest gift can come out of the greatest tragedy, and though a loved one might be gone, she can also live on through others. "I'm really proud of the decision Erika made. We couldn't undo what was happening to her, but if her life couldn't continue, what a neat opportunity for her to be able to save the lives of four other people."
"I went to the emergency room and was able to see Erika," says her mother Bette. "I told her I loved her and she squeezed by hand." Erika lived for several days but was brain dead. Her mother remembered how excited she'd been about choosing to be an organ donor when she'd gotten her drivers license. "So we were just doing what she desired, we didn't agonize over it. It was real easy for us," says Bette.
Ted Cochran is someone who's always needed an organ. From the time he was a toddler, doctors said he would eventually need a kidney transplant. "Ya know, it was challenging. A lot of pain, a lot of tests, and recovery." He'd gone through six surgeries by the time he was 12 but Ted was an active, happy kid who didn't complain.
When he was nineteen, septic shock caused severe damage to his already weakened kidneys. He was on a respirator for days and his body was shutting down. He eventually recovered but received horrible news a few years later. "It was over my lunch hour at a regular doctor's appointment," Ted remembers. "He told me, you will need a transplant in two years."
When Ted told his mom the news, she couldn't believe it. "It's just like someone kicked you in the stomach," says Carla Cochran. She spent her son's entire life worrying, and knew how serious the situation was. "I'm an ER nurse," she explains. "On quiet nights I would start playing the 'what if' game. What if. I knew what the waiting list was and at that time there were 262 Iowans waiting on a kidney." Only thirty transplants were happening each year.
Carla knew thousands of people died waiting and she wasn't going to let her son be one of them. "It was a decision I made in a heartbeat," she says of getting tested to see if she could donate to Ted. She was a match, and the transplant happened on August 29th of 2006. Ted was healthy for the first time in his life. "The energy I had, it was indescribable!" Ted exclaims. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not running a marathon or anything, but it's great!"
Ted ditched his old career plans and started "My Angel Foundation" a non-profit dedicated to promoting organ donor awareness. "Going through the transplant experience instilled a passion in me to honor my mother's gift and advocate for the thing that saved my life," he says. Ted got married last spring and his wife knows the experience made him the man he is today. "He really feels it was a blessing to go through what he's gone through," explains Bethany Cochran. "We both believe God puts people in certain places for a reason."
Bette Schwager believes it too. She knows that the greatest gift can come out of the greatest tragedy, and though a loved one might be gone, she can also live on through others. "I'm really proud of the decision Erika made. We couldn't undo what was happening to her, but if her life couldn't continue, what a neat opportunity for her to be able to save the lives of four other people."
Please register to be an organ donor and discuss your wishes with your family. Please visit organdonor.gov to learn how to register in your state.
1 comment:
There's not a day that goes by that my family isn't thankful for the miracle that Erika bestowed on our family. My mother recieved a pancreas transplant and it has changed our lives forever. Erika saved her life and I could never give enough thanks for the tremendous gift that Erika really gave us. It's terrible that such a great person had to leave this earth but I see it as Erika being an angel on earth. I believe that everything happens for a reason and that as horrible as it was Erika did something much more than anyone could ever hope for. She saved lives. I hope that If I have to leave this Earth that I can save lives and be an angel on earh so that I can give people hope. Thank you Erika. You and your family are always in our prayers.
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