MISSOULA - The power of organ donation was at the heart of LifeCenter Northwest’s annual Missoula “donation celebration,” which honored donors, recipients, and their loved ones on Sunday.
“My son would not be alive if it weren't for organ donation,” Megan Truman said. “And that seems like such a simple statement, but it’s not.”
Watch to learn more about the annual donation celebration:
In just a few weeks in 2023, the lives of everyone in Truman’s family changed forever. Suddenly, her son Brandon was sick and his organs were shutting down. Then, he received a heart transplant that saved his life.
“When this happened, my son was 25 and had his whole life ahead of him. Then, suddenly, he didn't, and we were going to lose him,” Truman said. “I can't begin to describe what that was like, knowing that my son's life would be saved but also that another family was losing a loved one. That's a weird place to be.”
The impact of an organ transplant is felt far beyond one surgery. Recipients and loved ones on both sides are left with complicated emotions. Truman’s story is just one of many like it.
LifeCenter Northwest facilitates organ, eye and tissue donations across Montana, Northern Idaho, Washington and Alaska. They host celebrations, like in Missoula on Sunday, to bring the donation community together, according to Ashlei Lind, director of external affairs.
“Right now, there are just over 2,000 individuals waiting for a life-saving transplant throughout our region. Nationally, there are just over 100,000 individuals of all ages waiting for a life-saving transplant,” she said. “Many of these donor families may never have an opportunity to meet another donor family. Because donation is so rare, in that less than 1% of those individuals who die are actually able to become donors, that community is small.”
Lind said the events offer the community a time to connect with each other, honor donors and support those who are still here.
“The support that we provide to families in the hospital continues long after their loved one has become a donor. It's important to us to continue to honor that gift that they've given,” she said. “This is just a way to bring that community together in a really meaningful and impactful way.”
Because of her experiences with her son, Truman now works with LifeCenter Northwest, connecting with families on both sides of transplants.
“I’ve met incredible families whose loved ones have become donors and been able to be with them at their time of need, but also been able to be a part of somebody receiving an organ, receiving a second chance at life,” Lind said. “To see the full circle of that is a really beautiful experience.”
Truman spoke to the crowd on Sunday, sharing her experiences with donation publicly for the first time.
“Life and death are very big issues,” she said. “They're very big subjects to talk about and we can live our lives every single day and a lot of us take it for granted.”
Lind asks people to consider registering as an organ donor and to discuss their wishes with loved ones. She says that conversations like that can have a very real impact, like on Truman’s son.
“They could literally save a life with that decision. Literally save a life,” Truman said. “It's so hard to express in words what a 25-year-old is able to do now because somebody said ‘yes.’ But, he is here, just living his best life because of that decision.”
