skateboarding and organ donation...

skategeezer · 01-08-2007, 05:30 AM

from the London Free Press...Ontario

Bunny McFarlane never thought of organ donation until the day her son died.
But when decision time came, McFarlane felt she had to donate her son's organs so in some way he could live on.
"It's amazing to know that you can change someone's live so dramatically. I feel my son is living on," McFarlane said.
"The sad part is, most people don't know much about donation until they experience the loss of a loved one. My son never signed a donor card and we never discussed it. People ask how we knew this is what he would want. We based our decision on the type of person he was and on his character.
"It was important to honour his life by offering to donate his organs . . . that's all we could base it on. It was the right decision."
SUFFERED BRAIN INJURY
Bryce McFarlane, 27, was skateboarding with friends in a parking garage behind Mount Sinai hospital in the summer of 2005 and suffered a brain injury when he hit a concrete wall.
He was taken to St. Michael's Hospital for surgery to reduce pressure on his brain and family was called.
"When we heard how serious it was, the whole family came from St. Catharines. Myself, my two daughters and my ex-husband," she said.
At the time, Bryce was brain dead, but not brain-stem dead.
When a person is brain dead, they are in a coma and have some brain-related bodily functions.
"At the hospital we were approached by a lady from Trillium (Gift of Life Network) who explained the difference between brain-dead and brain-stem dead and then asked if donating might be an interest of ours," she said.
"It was a surreal time, a very surreal time. It was like, 'Why are you talking about this?' It was such a shock."
When McFarlane realized the severity of the accident, she asked for a meeting with the doctor, the Trillium representative and the hospital minister.
"With Bryce's friends, we had to discuss his drug, alcohol and sex history as part of the process. All the things parents sometimes don't know about," she said.
"After the meeting we were told to go back to the hotel to get some sleep, but by the time we got there we received a call that Bryce was brain-stem dead and the process began."
One patient received Bryce's lungs, another his pancreas, two patients shared his liver and another received his heart.
"We only donated specific organs because my daughters couldn't deal with donating his corneas or his skin," she said.
McFarlane longs to know who received Bryce's organs, but patient confidentiality laws prevent donors and recipients from meeting.
"I believe that the person who receives the donation takes on some of the characteristics of the donor, which is powerful. That is why I want to know," she said.
Bryce worked at the Niagara Skydiving Club where he would jump with first timers and photograph the experience for them.
"He incorporated his love of skydiving and photography for his job. It's kind of ironic that he would die skateboarding," McFarlane said.