Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Megan!

A good story coming out of a bad situation.

Good, too, that in addition to saving, and improving lives, the motorcyclist had a hand in putting a bit more kindness in the world.

Thank you for writing this! My brother died in a snowboarding accident in 2000 ... he was also a young, healthy guy and an organ donor. As awful as it was to lose him, it also gave us a little bit of comfort to know that parts of him lived on by helping others live.

The lesson is: for the sake of those you love and for the sake of those you don't even know, make sure you are registered as an organ donor.

Tears in my eyes.

lovely.. and i bet her cupcakes are a-maze-ing

What a nice story. Thank you for sharing it.

@4 +1

Powerful story. Thank you.

Just renewed my license earlier this week and made sure to check the "donor" box.

Beautiful.

What a great post for Valentine's Day. I especially liked the last thing you said.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Awesome story. Thanks.

I have been an organ donor since the very first year it became an option on your drivers license. I think everyone should do it.

I have a friend who got a lung transplant from a young motorcycle accident victim. Thank you to organ donators everywhere.

Thank you for writing this post, Megan. My mother is a kidney transplant surgeon, and there is something you should all know: if you want your organs to be donated when you die, you should talk to your family about it. Although generally the donor's choice is legally binding, organ recovery agencies will usually respect the wishes of the family. In some instances, organ recovery agencies have chosen to respect the donor's intent rather than the family's wishes, and on occasion judges have issued injunctions blocking the recovery of the organs (while the potential recipients waited on the OR table). You can hopefully avoid this unfortunate outcome by clearly communicating your wishes to your family.

oh shit. that was beautiful. you made me cry.

That's a wonderful story. Please sign up to become an organ donor if you haven't already. If there is a good match, you can also be a living donor. I donated a kidney to my brother a few years ago, and we are both doing great.

Thanks for writing this. My mom died of kidney failure because she wasn't a good enough transplant candidate. At the time I was mad at everyone who would get one of those kidneys she couldn't.

This was a great reminder recipients are prioritized for good reasons, reasons that result in happiness like your family's. Happy Valentine's Day you you all.

Jeez, Megan. You had to go and ruin the bitter, anti-Valentine's Day sniping-vibe we had going around here. Stupid beautiful story...

Incidentally, how easy is it to find out the source of donor organs? Is that information available if the donor acquiesces to it beforehand, or if their family does?

I have a similar story of a beloved relative whose life was given back to her because of an organ donor, and I've been an organ donor ever since. Which has also encouraged me to live a healthy life so that if my organs are needed when I'm done with them, they'll be of some use. Everybody wins.

Both my housemate and I donated a kidney to strangers this past year (go Hillman City donors!).
Here's how it works:
1. You have a spare kidney.
2. Someone will die today without it.
3. Call Virginia Mason hospital (206-341-1201)
My advocate there was the granddaughter of the hospital founder. Yep, she was a donor.

Oh, forgot to include this King5 story about my housemate's experience.
http://www.king5.com/health/Kidney-donat…