Massachusetts residents can sign up through the Registry of Motor Vehicles to donate their organs.
Kirk Sanders, heart transplant recipient Susan Sanders, Austin J. Prokop and his mother, Jennifer Prokop, hold a picture of Samantha P. Prokop, who was killed at age 12 in a 2008 car accident. SOUTHWICK – One family’s tragedy can be another one’s miracle through the ultimate gift of an organ donation – the type of donation that saved the life of Susan Sanders – who underwent a heart transplant in 2008.
“I’ve been blessed, and I want the same for others,” Sanders said this week during a flag-raising at Town Hall in recognition of Donate a Life Month.
Surrounded by family, friends and well-wishers, Sanders helped hoist the Donate a Life flag up the pole that sits on the front lawn of Town Hall in the hopes that all who drive by it will be encouraged to designate themselves as organ donors.
“It’s such a miracle,” Sanders said of her own successful heart transplant. “I feel like I won the biggest lottery in the world.”
Among those who joined Sanders for the flag-raising were other organ recipients, as well as the families of loved ones whose organs were used to help strangers in need.
Diane E. Arnold, mother of Daniel Arnold, who died in June 2008 at the age of 36 after a bike accident in New Hampshire, said all her son’s major organs were harvested and used to save the lives of patients in New England, as well as one from Southwick who received Arnold’s liver.
“We were glad that some good could come from what happened,” Diane Arnold said.
In addition to Arnold, Jennifer Prokop, who in October 2008 lost her 12-year-old daughter Samantha P. Prokop to a head injury sustained when she fell out the back of a moving sports utility vehicle, was also at the event with her family.
Making the decision to donate all of Samantha’s major organs was an easy one that brought some comfort to the family, Prokop said.
“There was no hesitation when we were asked if we wanted to donate her organs,” she said. “She was a strong, healthy girl who was almost 13. If we could help one person, then some good could come out of it.”
Surveying the scene around her at the all those who participated in the event, Sanders said she owes her life to families like the Arnolds and Prokops.
“Without people like them, there wouldn’t be people like me,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Southwick joins hundreds of other organizations throughout the country that are participating in Flags Across America to promote the understanding of organ and tissue donation, said Caitlyn E. Bernabucci, public education and community relations specialist with LifeChoice Donor Services in Windsor, Conn.
“This regional display of unity will encourage people to learn about donation, to make the decision to register, and ultimately, to save and improve lives,” she said.
To join the donor registry, state residents can visit the Registry of Motor Vehicles or sign up online at Donate Life New England at www.DonateLifeNewEngland.org.