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Colby's Story
On June 3, 1993, 14 month-old Colby, left unattended in the bathtub by a babysitter, slipped under the water and drowned. Despite heroic efforts by medical personnel, Colby died at the hospital. His parents were given time to say goodbye in the hospital room. Colby’s mom, Starla, remembers, “I knew what was going on, but I didn’t want to hear the words.”
Although John, Colby’s father, is a family practitioner he did not immediately think of organ donation during this time of grief. Fortunately a physician had the courage to ask the difficult question: “Would you donate your son’s organs?” Amid indescribable despair, their decision to donate gave the Cassanis a profound sense of hope and added new meaning to Colby’s brief life. It took John and Starla only minutes to agree to proceed with the donation.
Colby’s life was short but his legacy is far-reaching in the lives of those who received his organs. His kidneys were transplanted into a twenty-seven year old man. His liver was implanted in a two year old girl. And his heart was donated to a five month-old boy. All of the transplants were successful.
As some donor families do, the Cassanis reached out to the organ recipient families. They began by writing letters through their transplant coordinators to all the recipients. The family of Brayden, who received Colby’s heart, chose to write in response. On the first anniversary of Brayden’s heart transplant the families spoke for the first time. “Once we started talking, both families realized there was this phenomenal connection between us” Starla stated. When Brayden was three, the families arranged to meet for the first time. “As we got off the plane, Brayden ran into my arms, hugged me so tight and handed me a single white rose,” Starla says. The families have been able to get together numerous times and continue to enjoy a loving friendship. (Read Brayden's Story)
The Cassanis established the Colby Foundation in 1995 as a way to honor Colby’s memory and to inspire and educate others about organ and tissue donation.
Susan's Story
On June 29, 1990 I lost my sister Bizi in a terrible accident when she was just 29 years old. It seemed so unreal; what you would see in a movie. We received a phone call in the early morning hours, rushed to board a flight to her home town and when we got to the hospital we found out that we had lost her. My family was devastated by the loss and I was simply stunned. On that day I lost the sister who was closest to me in age and who represented many of my memories of childhood.
We were approached in the hospital by a doctor who asked us if we would be willing to donate Bizi’s organs. Although our immediate reaction was yes, we wanted to see if she had put anything in place for this issue. Her fiancé went home and found her drivers license. We noticed on there that she had not listed herself as a donor and so we were left with that decision. Ultimately we agreed that Bizi would have wanted to be part of “giving life” to those in need.
We were able to donate Bizi’s heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and corneas; although we made the decision that we only wanted to donate to save someone else, not for research purposes. Since then we have received letters through the donor association from the heart recipient and have learned that because of Bizi’s gift she was able to see her grandchildren be born. We take great solace in knowing she is doing well.
Bizi’s death and donating her organs was a valuable lesson to me and it definitely increased my awareness regarding what I can do for organ and tissue donation. Each time I renew my license, I always make sure that the Organ Donation box is checked on my driver’s license.
I miss Bizi everyday and it is good to know that people continue to live on through the gift of life she gave.
Carrie’s Story
My husband lived his life trying to be of service to others--giving his time and what he had to others in need. At some point, he told me that he had decided it was important to him to be an organ donor. We agreed it was a giving and loving thing to do. Unfortunately, his health declined over many years before he died. His lungs and his heart were in particularly bad shape. When he did die, we were convinced his poor health meant no one could benefit from his organs. Our daughter, who is a nurse, knew that tissues can often be donated even when the donor is ill or elderly like my husband. A quick call to the local eye bank confirmed that we could donate his corneas and someone else’s life would be better for it. My husband’s service to others continued even in his death—what a comforting thing for us, his family, that he was still the man we knew in this last act of giving.
Recipient Stories
Brayden’s Story/Colby’s Heart Recipient
Brayden was born in 1993 and although he was blind in one eye he seemed otherwise healthy. However after a couple of months, his parents realized that he was not gaining weight. It was then determined that he had Congenital Heart Disease and had two holes in his heart that would require surgery. The surgery was performed, but did not help. Five months after Brayden was born, his parents were told that his main chance for survival would be a heart transplant.
His father, Joe, recalls that the doctors forewarned them that there was a big chance that Brayden would not survive the wait for the heart, which could be anywhere from 3 to 5 months. However, five weeks later the wait was over and Brayden received his new heart. Laura, Brayden’s mother, recalls that she could not believe the immediate change in Brayden, “it was beautiful to see how red his lips and finger tips were after the transplant, all because of one family’s choice to make the unselfish decision to donate their son’s organs.”
"The Cassanis first came into our lives on June 8, 1993 and because of that our son is now a healthy and happy teenager who has had wonderful success with his heart."
Macie's Story
Macie, an exhuberant and inquisitive child of two years of age, keeps her parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents busy. However, the family doesn’t mind, because at four months old Macie was just struggling to stay alive. After what seemed a normal pregnancy, Macie was born prematurely and with a severe case of cardiomyopathy (an inflammation of the heart that interferes with its ability to pump blood). Although she was allowed to go home after her birth, she continued to have significant medical problems and went into cardiac arrest twice. It was just after her second cardiac arrest that Macie, while in the ICU, had a donor heart become available.
Macie received a heart transplant at just four months old and came through the operation well enough to return home quickly. The family saw an immediate change in Macie, both in her eating abilities and her new energy. Although she will always take anti-rejection medications, she will be able to do all the things other children do, including sports. “Macie is catching up from all the time she was in the hospital and is developing very well” says her mom, Michelle. “I can’t stress enough the importance of organ and tissue donation. I’d ask people to give organ donation a chance. It saved Macie’s life.”
Jeffie's Story
After their beloved son Colby died, the Cassanis' decision to donate his organs saved the lives of three others. The Cassanis' story is one of hope experienced through donation. Others have experienced the life-saving gift of hope through receiving a donated organ. We are pleased to introduce you to Jeffie.
It is a beautiful autumn day, the kind that Jeffie enjoys most; where she can go out and see the changing leaves and the bright colors of fall. The fall of 1999 was not looking quite so bright due to the fact that Jeffie was in full kidney failure and spending much of her time connected to a kidney dialysis machine or trying to recover her strength just to do some day-to-day chores. However, her life changed drastically when she received a kidney transplant in May of 2000. “I have been doing really well ever since the transplant,” says Jeffie. “I wrote a letter of appreciation to the family, but I have never heard anything back from them. The donor was a four year old, so I am sure that the pain of their loss was terrible!”
Jeffie, now a vibrant 62 year old woman, enjoys writing poetry, taking long walks and looking at the leaves and the flowers. None of these things was possible when she was in kidney failure. She states that she has to take three anti-rejection medications but she does that gladly due to the sacrifice that the donor family made for her. “We just had a new grandchild born, and I would not have been around to see him enter this world if it were not for the donor family.” Jeffie’s daughter, Shermoin, is grateful for the donor family as well. “My daughter will graduate from high school this year and my mother is here to watch her walk across the stage. We are grateful to have her here and we appreciate the gift of life that the donor family was able to give to us.”
Stories of Waiting
Josie's Story
I am a forty nine year old woman who had always been healthy as a horse. In fact, riding horses was something I loved to do. That was before I found out I had cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Somehow an infection that I never knew I had damaged my heart muscle. Unfortunately, by the time I had any symptoms, the damage was so bad that my heart was in heart failure. The doctors told me they could manage my heart failure with medication for a while but that I would need a heart transplant to save my life. That was nineteen months ago. I am not improving and hope that a heart is available soon. My daughter is expecting our first grandson and my greatest hope is to be around for all the miracles of his little life.
