Health Matters: Organ Transplants Become the Gift of Life

Every 10 minutes someone is added to the waiting list for an organ transplant.
 
Twenty-one people die every day waiting for a transplant.

One local mom wants to change the mindset of organ donation.

She says even though she lost a son, it’s organ donation that has allowed him to live on.
 
“He isn’t gone, he’s still part of us,” says Donor Mom, Bobbi Fetzer.
 
Bobbi Fetzer never imagined she would face every parent’s worst night mare.

On June 2nd 2011, Fetzer’s 7-year-old son Mikey was hit by a pick-up truck as he was crossing the street.

But if you ask Fetzer, Mikey isn’t gone.
 
“I know that he’s living on and I know that organ donation is the reason he’s still living on,” says Fetzer.
 
And that reason,
 
“In the midst of tragedy good can come from it. One life is lost but the other is saved,” says Essentia Health ER Manager, Toby Jezzard.
 
…is why one 17-year-old girl is allowing Mikey to live on.
 
“He passed away at seven but with Mia and his other recipients, he’s doing all the things he would have done if he was able to grow up,” says Jezzard.
 
Bobbi also wants to make sure her son and others are never forgotten and thanks to a new donor wall, Mikey will forever be displayed at Essentia Health in Fargo.
 
“It just makes me happy I can walk by and see him and my family and friends can see him,” says Fetzer.
 
“In the midst of tragedy good can come from it. One life is lost but the other is saved,” says Jezzard.
 
A reminder that heroes, like Mikey,
 
“He’s given me a mission to help spread the word about organ donation,” says Fetzer.
 
…will never be forgotten.
 
The donor wall will be unveiled at Essentia Health Emergency Department’s waiting room from 5:30 to 7:30 on July 26th.