Pinwheel Garden honors organ donors, transplant recipients

Oak Lawn, Ill. – Patients, families, physicians, nurses and team members gathered on Monday, April 1, at Advocate Christ Medical Center to celebrate life – the life of organ donors, donor families and transplant recipients through a flag raising ceremony and pinwheel garden.

April is National Donate Life Month which encourages people to register as organ, eye
and tissue donors. The event was hosted by Advocate Christ Medical Center,
Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn and Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor
Network.

Dr. Darshika Chhabra, medical director of Kidney Transplant Program at Advocate Christ
Medical Center, said the decision to donate organ and tissue stems from an act
of true compassion and kindness.

“So often a decision to donate is made by loved ones who are grieving the loss of
someone taken far too soon. I sincerely hope that donor families can find some comfort
in the fact that their gift has positively impacted the recipients as well as their families, by giving them new hope and a new lease on life,” she said.

David Griffith thought he was blessed 18 years ago when he received a heart transplant. More than a year ago, his kidneys started to fail and he needed another transplant. His wife was
planning to be his kidney donor when the procedure was put on hold two days before the scheduled surgery.

Later, Griffith received a call that
a family friend’s college-aged son, Connor, was on life support following a tragic
auto accident. The family decided to donate one of their son’s kidneys to David,
who received his transplantation at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

“When I received the call, I was totally in shock. First of all, since I know the family well, they are the nicest and most gracious family that I know. In the middle of a tragedy of losing
their son, they thought of me. I don’t know how donor families make that decision
but I’m grateful for it. To think of other people and to be that generous with
their love is just extraordinary. And through Connor, someone got his heart,
lungs, eyes and two people received his kidneys. Plus, he donated tissue. He
helped so many people. It’s truly amazing what can be done,” said Griffith.

Griffith thanked his caregivers for their “talent and love.” “What you do is tremendous,” he said.

Organ donors and their families were represented by Vicki Walker, whose daughter, Domonique “Nikki” Smith, passed away at the age of 18 from an accidental drowning in 2016. Walker said she knew right away that organ donation was the right choice for her family. In fact, two
years prior to the accident, Walker and her daughter talked about the importance
of being an organ donor when she received her driver’s license.

“On the worst day of my life, when I lost my only child, she was able to save five lives,” said Walker. Nikki’s heart was donated to her mother’s friend, Tanisha, who suffered from congestive heart failure and was awaiting a transplant. Her heart transplant was performed at Advocate Christ Medical Center. In addition, Nikki’s lungs, kidneys and liver were also harvested for donation.

“My daughter now lives on in five people. That’s the best decision that I have made in my entire life,” said Walker. “We need to have conversations with our loved ones. We have to preserve life and leave legacies for the next generation,” she said.

Maureen Kwiecinski, Gift of Hope vice president of external affairs and general counsel, said organ donation provides families an opportunity to turn loss into hope.

“At Gift of Hope we cherish and embrace our donor families for what they manage to
do during a dark hour. The donation experience can be transformative for our donor families as it provides them with a long, lasting legacy and connection to their loved one,” she said.

Following the ceremony, attendees visited the pinwheel garden, located near the main entrance of Advocate Christ. The significance of the pinwheel is that it has eight spokes supported by one stem, symbolic of the power that one person has to save up to eight lives through organ donation – the gift of life. The pinwheel garden will be on display through Tuesday, April 30.

To learn more about organ donation and to register as a donor, visit www.ilsos.gov/organdonorregister.