BY STEPHEN REED
PHILADELPHIA — More than 11 years have passed since Shannon Eckert, an 18-year-old girl from Mechanicsburg, Pa., died in a car crash. To her grieving family's surprise, she had indicated on her driver's license that she wanted to be an organ donor.
Thus, the tragedy of Eckert's death led to the gift of life for several people. Eckert's liver went to a 48-year-old man awaiting a transplant. One kidney and her pancreas went to a 51-year old man; another kidney went to a 49-year-old woman.
And Eckert's heart went to Jessica Melore of Branchburg, who the year before had suffered a devastating heart attack as a 16-year-old and was living temporarily with a mechanical heart pump.
PHILADELPHIA — More than 11 years have passed since Shannon Eckert, an 18-year-old girl from Mechanicsburg, Pa., died in a car crash. To her grieving family's surprise, she had indicated on her driver's license that she wanted to be an organ donor.
Thus, the tragedy of Eckert's death led to the gift of life for several people. Eckert's liver went to a 48-year-old man awaiting a transplant. One kidney and her pancreas went to a 51-year old man; another kidney went to a 49-year-old woman.
And Eckert's heart went to Jessica Melore of Branchburg, who the year before had suffered a devastating heart attack as a 16-year-old and was living temporarily with a mechanical heart pump.
In the years since, Melore and the Eckert family communicated sporadically. But they'd never met, and never spoken, until Wednesday, when they came together at the Philadelphia offices of the Gift of Life Donor Program. They helped create a portrait of Eckert that will decorate a float devoted to organ donation in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year's Day.
"Over the past 11 years I always wondered what this day would be like," said Melore. Although it took a while to finally coordinate the meeting, "I never felt nervous, because when I thought of the Eckert family I always felt warmth," she said.
"Through Jessica, Shannon lives on," said Tammy Eckert, Shannon's mother. "She lives on. She lives on through the organ donation program."
Melore's saga began in 1998 when, as co-captain of her high school tennis team, she suffered the heart attack and then lived for nine months with the heart pump. Complications caused her to lose one of her legs to amputation.
Then, in July 2000 and October 2007, she was struck with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, partly because of her weakened immune system. She successfully fought it both times and has been in remission since January 2008.
Shannon Eckert's heart kept beating reliably through Melore's cancer treatments and her college education at Princeton, as well as the years she has spent as a motivational speaker and advocate for organ donation. She has appeared on Good Morning America, Dateline NBC and ABC Nightly News, among other television shows, and has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers. Glamour magazine called her one of its Top 10 College Women of 2002.
"Over the past 11 years I always wondered what this day would be like," said Melore. Although it took a while to finally coordinate the meeting, "I never felt nervous, because when I thought of the Eckert family I always felt warmth," she said.
"Through Jessica, Shannon lives on," said Tammy Eckert, Shannon's mother. "She lives on. She lives on through the organ donation program."
Melore's saga began in 1998 when, as co-captain of her high school tennis team, she suffered the heart attack and then lived for nine months with the heart pump. Complications caused her to lose one of her legs to amputation.
Then, in July 2000 and October 2007, she was struck with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, partly because of her weakened immune system. She successfully fought it both times and has been in remission since January 2008.
Shannon Eckert's heart kept beating reliably through Melore's cancer treatments and her college education at Princeton, as well as the years she has spent as a motivational speaker and advocate for organ donation. She has appeared on Good Morning America, Dateline NBC and ABC Nightly News, among other television shows, and has been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers. Glamour magazine called her one of its Top 10 College Women of 2002.
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