A tribute for those who gave in death
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
CREVE COEUR — Dozens of family members will gather today in the chapel of St. John's Mercy Medical Center to quietly honor loved ones who donated organs and tissues upon their deaths.
This is the second year the hospital has held a memorial service, which is open to families of donors who died at the hospital during the previous calendar year. Last year, there were 64. Most were in sudden, tragic circumstances.
"In the moment this is all happening, there is so much emotion ... I don't think they can recognize the significance of what they are doing and what they have decided," said Sheryl Tretter, a care coordinator for families in intensive care. The memorial service "is an opportunity to bring them back here and hear from people who have received the kind of gift they've made and know what it meant not only to the recipients, but to the community and us as a hospital."
Recipients and donors will speak as well as the chief executives of the hospital and Mid-America Transplant Services, which provides transplant services in the region. The ceremony will include lighting a candle, reading donors' names and allowing family members to write messages to be placed on a wreath.
Last April, which is Donate Life Month, was the first year the hospital held the donor memorial service. "We weren't sure what the response was going to be. For some it's still a fresh experience," Tretter said, but the chapel was packed. "We had a family who drove two hours just to come. People seemed to really embrace it."
The ceremony is just part of the hospital's recent effort to promote education about organ donation and show appreciation for donors and their families.
When organs or tissues are donated, a candle is lighted in the chapel. The donor's name is also added to a scroll kept in the chapel. Relatives and friends can participate in lowering to half-staff a Donate Life flag that flies outside the hospital while a chaplain might say a prayer.
"It turns out to be an impromptu and kind of poignant ceremony," said Tretter, who brought back the ideas from a national conference. "It's the 'mercy' part of what we do. It seemed right up our alley."
The hospital also held this month a day-long registration drive in the hospital lobby to educate others about organ donation. In 2008, Missouri law created a donor registry that allows participants to indicate their wishes at the time of death and no longer requires additional family consent. In the absence of any indication, family must make the decision.
The family of Sara Reid, 30,of Gray Summit, who died in August in a car accident, plans to attend today's ceremony. "It's a way of saying thanks and keeping her spirit alive," said Reid's aunt, Cassie Overturf, 34,of Ballwin. "She didn't have much, but she would do whatever she could to help anybody."
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