Several hundred donor family members came together in November to remember and honor their loved ones at the annual Donor Family Gathering and Candlelight Services of Remembrance held in Seattle and Spokane. The ceremonies provided an opportunity for donor families to come together to celebrate the lives of those they loved and to hear from individuals who have benefited as a result of their generous decision to donate tissue, organs and eyes.

The stories of Adam Dublin and Jocelyn Pain were told in the annual calendar and elaborated upon in person at annual services.

The Seattle ceremony featured two young transplant recipients. Adam Dublin, a law student from Seattle, told of his struggle with a sudden heart disease that nearly took his life and how he now is able to look to the future, thanks to organ donation. Jocelyn Pain, a teenager from Auburn, Washington, shared the story (see page 1) of her fight with bone cancer, and expressed gratitude to the audience, who, like the family that donated bone that saved her leg, made a courageous decision at a difficult time.

In Spokane, Johanne Lal, the wife of a heart recipient, spoke on behalf of her husband about the gift of life he received. Donor families were also able to submit written tributes to their loved ones, which were printed in a booklet handed out at the ceremonies and later sent to those who could not attend.

A reception was held after each ceremony to provide families with an opportunity to discuss their experiences and to meet recipients who attended. It was also an opportunity for the donation program staff to visit families with whom their only other contact was at the time of the donation. Says Shari Fowler, the Tissue Services’s lead donation specialist, “We only spend a short time with donor families at the time of donation, a time of overwhelming sadness for them. These ceremonies provide an opportunity to talk to them about their loved one, and to see how much their decision to donate has helped them to heal.”

The ceremonies, planned and sponsored by Northwest Tissue Services, Northwest Lions Eye Bank and LifeCenter Northwest Donor Network, are held annually. For more information, please contact Fowler at the Tissue Services, (206) 292-1887, or by e-mail, sharif@psbc.org.