By Meredith Stanton Vaselaar | Nobles County Review
Knowing that Chad lives on in others is bittersweet. “You just don’t realize how many lives you touch,” says Jackie, “you don’t want to make that sacrifice, but it is comforting to know that so many people have been helped.”
September 24, 2008, dawned bright and clear. Chad Wieneke, son of Glenn and Jackie Wieneke of Lismore, started his workday at Pace Manufacturing in Brandon, South Dakota. Not long into the morning, Chad suffered a heart attack that would prove to be fatal. He was just thirty-five years old.
Glenn and Jackie received a telephone call that day, informing them that Chad had been rushed to a hospital in Sioux Falls. The couple rushed to their son’s side. There was nothing more the doctors could do for Chad. It was then that members from LifeSource approached the family, asking about the possibility of donating Chad’s organs. “Chad had renewed his driver’s license about a month prior to his death. At the time, he told me that he had checked the box that asked for consent to be an organ donor,” says Jackie, “I had not remembered that until that day in the hospital. I knew it was his wish, but [I thought] ‘did he want to do it? did he know he would be called on so soon’?” The members of LifeSource spoke to the family for a long time that day. “I wanted them to treat him with respect,” recalls Jackie. Although bereft with grief, the family felt strongly about honoring the decision Chad had made a month earlier when he indicated his desire to “donate organs, tissues, and eyes to save or enhance someone’s life through transplantation.”
The LifeSource staff as well as hospital personnel made preparations to also honor Chad’s request to be an organ donor. Chad’s donation included bone and connective tissue, skin, Heart valves, femoral and saphenous veins. At the time, the family asked if it was possible to learn how his tissue was used. LifeSource told the family, “yes,” but it could take awhile as body tissue may be saved for up to five years. Just three months later, the Wienekes learned that two people had received cornea transplants, including M., the grateful grandmother who could, once again, see her grandchildren.
As of January 2011, ten people had benefited from Chad’s gracious gifts. Seven people, ranging in age from 17 to 67, have been recipients of bone and connective tissue, utilizing a total of 23 tissue grafts. These recipients were from the following states: Minnesota, California, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey and North Carolina. Three more people, a woman (age 58) and two men (one age 72, the other age 76), received femoral and saphenous vein grafts. The Wienekes received a letter from LifeSource that stated, “Chad’s gift of tissue donation has made a tremendous difference not only in the life of the individuals who received that gift, but also in the lives of the recipient’s friends and family. Chad lives on in a legacy of kindness because of his gift.” Jackie says, “It’s so nice to know that Chad, who had a big heart, has continued to help people long after his death.”
Chad was always a loving, caring person, according to his friends and family. “He loved to help people, to teach, to share his time,” says Jackie, “he loved to teach youngsters how to hunt and fish.” Friends since they were “old enough to walk,” Todd Loosbrock remembers that Chad had always had a great capacity for caring. “The donor thing doesn’t surprise me at all,” says Loosbrock, “Chad was always very aware of the emotional side of people – he genuinely cared about others.“
Scott Nath, another long-time friend of Chad’s, was with him the night before he died. Nath says, “Chad would have done anything to help anyone out – he was always thinking of other people. He would not have hesitated to be a donor – he would have said: ‘why wouldn’t someone become a donor’?” On the evening before his death, Chad told Scott that he was going to see his twenty one-month old son, Joshua. “Chad was a very good father,” says Nath, “his heart and soul were into his son.” Plans were in place for Chad to marry Joshua’s mother in October of that year.
Chad’s death came as a shock to his family and friends, although he had suffered from some health issues over the years, including kidney stones as well as a previous heart attack in 2005. Chad may have had an inkling that something was wrong as he made an appointment to see his cardiologist, scheduled for the end of September 2008, something that was not known to his family until after his death. “I spoke to Chad almost every day,” says Jackie, “he often called me to tell me about something that Joshua did, or he’d ask about a recipe. I was going to stop and see him on Tuesday, September 23, but didn’t do that.” Chad died the following day; something that no one had anticipated. The suddenness of his death, as well as his young age, can be very hard on his family and friends. There is an element of comfort, knowing that his legacy lives on.
The Wienekes received a letter dated the first of April of this year from S., a 45 year old recipient of an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). who wrote about the injury that led to receiving a transplant, explaining that he was sometimes scared that his knee would give out while holding his baby daughter, and missing enjoying a simple thing like playing hoops with his teenage son. The ACL transplant changed the life of the man, which he described in great detail: “Thanks to your generosity, I had done a few things that would otherwise not have been possible, for example, less than three months after the surgery, I was able to trek up some of the most amazing stretches of the Himalayas.” The Wienekes shared the letter with family and friends. Nath says, “I think Chad would say that he was right there on the Himalayas with that man. I can hear him saying ‘look what I did’! How happy he would have been to help someone.”
In the letter, S. also writes about his decision to train for a marathon, in his words, “going from a couch potato to a marathoner in 16 weeks.” As incredible as it sounds, on March 6 of this year, S. completed the Napa Valley Marathon in California. He writes: “[I ran] in honor of my donor. He is my personal hero.”
It was this letter from S. that prompted the Wienekes to tell the story of their son and his generous donation to others. Jackie explains, “We are so overwhelmed when we receive these [recipient] letters, a person has no idea how this really helps. Even though Chad is no longer here, it is comforting to know that he’s still helping people. [Helping people] was something he always liked to do.”
The Wienekes would like to bring more awareness to organ donation programs. “It’s important for people to know what’s out there,” says Jackie. Organizations like LifeSource, which covers the states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, as well as the Eye Bank Association of America [local chapter: South Dakota Lions Eye Bank, which handled the corneas donated by Chad], are just two organizations that handle organ donations. A person can sign up to be an organ donor through LifeSource or by selecting the appropriate response on driver’s license applications/renewals.
Knowing that Chad lives on in others is bittersweet. “You just don’t realize how many lives you touch,” says Jackie, “you don’t want to make that sacrifice, but it is comforting to know that so many people have been helped.”
Chad himself had some prophetic words for life, written during his sophomore year of high school, where he was active in football, basketball and baseball. In a poem written for an assignment in Mrs. Kruger’s English Class (dated May 2, 1989), Chad’s wrote: “Life” ~ The world is a big stadium of life, as we play the game. We are put up against many challenges - some are easy, some we win, some we lose.” Chad might have lost his life, but he came out winning as he helped others regain theirs.
For more information: http://www.life-source.org ; http://www.dmv.org/mn-minnesota/organ-donor.php
* Recipient names have been abbreviated for privacy protection.
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