GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Deciding to donate your organs is considered by many to be one of the greatest gifts a person can make. A group gathering in West Michigan is choosing to honor that gift one stitch at a time.
Volunteers with the Gift of Life and Corewell Health employees were busy making comfort blankets for organ donor families.
“When a patient passes away in the hospital, and they have decided to become an organ donor, their family has a blanket is gifted to them that goes with them all the way to the operating rooms...kind of the last thing that the patient has with them," said Krista Veine, Corewell Health Transplant Program Manager.
They hope this small gift will give them comfort and a reminder that their loved one’s death helped others live.
“Being able to donate an organ gives families some solace bit of a silver lining that they know that their loved one lives on and that they didn't die in vain," Veine said.
“The blanket was something we could bring home that just brought us comfort and solace. And was special in that way," Annie Fiser added.
For Annie and her daughter Tavin, making these blankets hits home because last year, they lost their husband and father, Scott Fiser.
“I think that his final gift here just really continues that pattern of giving back to others when he was able to," said Tavin.
When it was time for Scott, he received a blanket. It was the last thing that touched Scott before he died. It was placed on him for his honor walk — when the staff lined the hall as they moved him to the operating room — something Tavin has seen numerous time as a healthcare worker in the transplant department.
“I think it just really humanizes them, right? It's easy, as a healthcare worker to, you know, think of your patients as a number sometimes or to forget the families behind that. And also, you know, it's good to recognize that, you know, this is a very sensitive topic. It's sensitive, and it's hard for both ends,” she explained.
The family knows that Scott’s gift helped four other people live. He donated both of his kidneys, his liver and his heart.
“We do think it was a good thing and did give us a lot of comfort and peace, you know, knowing that he could still help others," Annie said.
They know the blankets are a small token, but for them it’s a big symbol of Scott’s generosity that continued even after his death.
“Maybe that blanket was made by a coworker of mine, whoever it was, it's now, like, in our arms. It's, you know, something my dad touched that final time we saw him, and it's something we'll treasure forever,” Tavin said.
Organizers want to encourage everyone to become an organ donor, saying that gift could save the lives of many.
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