TAMARA H. SONE • SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN
On March 4, 2008, the 21-year-old College of the Desert student was killed in a car crash.
Two years later, the La Quinta man's mission lives on through seven other people — including a newborn — who received his organs or tissue.
His family got a rare opportunity to meet some of the recipients Friday at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.
“I just wanted to see how everyone was doing,” said his mother, Pamela Greer, wiping away tears. “I just wanted to know if everyone was OK.”
Recipients Julie Lyon of Orange and Debbie Morgan of Riverside were equally emotional.
“I had been excited all week, but now I am really emotional,” said a crying Morgan.
Morgan, 53, was on a waiting list for a liver since 1999. She received a part of Greer's liver. Another part was donated to a newborn baby.
Lyon received Greer's pancreas. A diabetic since age 2, Lyon said she no longer has diabetes since the pancreas transplant.
“I had been on the waiting list for almost three years,” said Lyon, 41.
Lyon and Morgan say Greer's organ donation made the difference between surviving and living.
Their meeting with Greer's family was the first of its kind at Desert Regional, a hospital spokeswoman said.
“It is very unusual for the donor's family to meet the recipients,” said Linda Stevens. “The donor was brought here after his accident, to Desert Regional, so we thought this would be an ideal place for the families to meet.”
For a donor's family, meeting with recipients allows them to be “proactive” in their grief and see that something positive came from a tragedy, said Marlin Mason of One Legacy Organ Donation, which helped harvest Quincy Greer's organs.
California has more than 7 million organ donors registered on a database — about a third of all organ donors registered nationwide, he said.
On the other hand, 21 percent of people on the waiting list for a transplant are California residents.
Amid tears, sobs and laughs, the Greer family talked about Quincy Greer's character, his good grades, his love of animals, drawing and WWF Wrestling — and how he loved to make people laugh.
“He always wanted to go to Japan,” Pamela Greer said. “He was listening to CDs and learning how to speak Japanese.”
Morgan, who loves to travel, said, “Well, maybe one day a part of him will get there.”
On Saturday, Morgan, Lyon and the Greer family went to Pasadena to help decorate a float for the One Legacy Organization that will be in the Rose Parade on Jan. 1.
Quincy Greer, along with 63 other donors, will be remembered in a floragraph, a portrait made out of flowers.
After the parade, his floragraph will be packaged and sent to Pamela Greer as a keepsake.
“I am happy Quincy is living on,” his mother said. “This gives me peace; I feel at ease now.”
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