Stories of Hope
Organ and Tissue Donor families and recipients Share Their Stories of Hope
The loss of a life for the saving of another is both a tragic and beautiful occurrence. We welcome you to take a glance into the lives of those directly impacted as they share their experiences with organ and tissue donation.
Audrey Holtzman
Sister of Henry Dennis - Organ and Tissue Donor
“I just feel like expressing joy can be so contagious to others, no matter what you’re going through or what other people are going through. If you have that expression of joy, not just in your face, but in your whole being, it helps uplift others around you.” – Audrey Holtzman
My brother Henry was a great and kind soul first, and a star athlete second. He lived his life by the simple philosophy of “I do what God calls me to do.” He was an avid runner who ran for the Wisconsin Runner Racing Team after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was crowned the national 5K champion at the USA Men’s Championship in 2003.
Henry was no ordinary man; he was the embodiment of what it is to be a good and kind person. He loved spending time with his two boys, Miles (16) and Henry IV (14). His kindness and selflessness only made his untimely passing harder on our family, but the unfortunate reality is that it is often the best of us who are taken too soon. This is why it was no surprise to my family that he was a registered organ, eye and tissue donor.
Henry was rich in heart and soul, and he wanted nothing more than to spread hope and joy to the people who needed it most. He spent his time pouring into his sons, helping the homeless, supporting causes he was passionate about and living life to the fullest. When he walked into a room, his smile would light up the entire room. Although we miss him tremendously, we are grateful to know that he was able to save eight lives through organ donation and countless others through his gift of tissue.
Olivia Solis
Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipient
Olivia Rene “Faith” Solis entered the world on February 22, 2018 at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, TX after what was by all accounts a healthy pregnancy. In the lead up to her arrival, her parents, Miguel Solis and Jacqueline Nortman, dreamed big dreams about what her future would hold. Maybe she would be a doctor or college athlete like her mother, a teacher or public official like her father, or perhaps she would impact the world in her own unique way.
These dreams, the same type of dreams that millions of parents have for their children, were quickly threatened by news doctors delivered to Miguel and Jacqueline soon after Olivia’s birth, a congenital heart defect diagnosis, aortic valve stenosis, that would require immediate and invasive procedures before she could leave the hospital.
On day six of her life, Olivia underwent a balloon valvuloplasty procedure. What was supposed to be a routine process took a turn for the worse when her heart went into shock leading to an hour of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After a highly technical surgical procedure to place her on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) life support led by Dr. Eric Mendeloff was successful, Olivia’s options were narrowed to two open-heart surgery approaches, a high-risk Ross-Konno procedure or a heart transplant. Either approach would require a medical transport to Children’s Medical Center-Dallas, as it is only one of two medical institutions that conduct heart transplants in the state of Texas.
After consultation with Children’s Medical Center Division Director of Pediatric and Congenital Cardiothoracic Surgery, Dr. Robert Jaquiss, Jacqueline and Miguel first decided to try the Ross-Konno procedure. Although successful, it soon became clear that Olivia’s heart would not sustain her and so she was left with the final option of a heart transplant.
After weeks on life support followed by months in the hospital, dozens of procedures, seizures, strokes, and many other hardships, on May 21, 2018, doctors delivered the news Olivia and her parents had been waiting for, a donor heart had been secured for her and a second open-heart surgery would occur that evening. At 12:07 am the next morning, her three-month birthday, Olivia’s new heart beat for the first time and nearly one month later she would leave the hospital for the first time in her nascent life ready to achieve her dreams. Olivia’s family met the family of her donor hero in 2019.
Mary
Kidney Recipient 腎臟移植康復者
Mary was born a healthy child, but developed kidney failure at the young age of three. She spent much of her early years in and out of the hospital and, at age 5, received a kidney donation from a man named Brian who gave Mary her childhood back.
瑪麗出生時是個健康的孩子，但她三歲的時候腎臟衰竭，童年早期大部分時間都需要進出醫院，瑪麗五歲時接受一個叫布賴恩的器官捐贈人的腎臟，她的童年才恢復正常。
Mary recovered from her transplant and attended school like any healthy child, but then her health took a turn. When she was 12 years old, her new kidney began to fail, necessitating another transplant. This time a selfless 4-year-old and her family gave Mary a second chance at life through organ donation.
瑪麗從移植手術康復後，和一般健康兒童一樣上課學習，但她的健康在12歲時再起了變化，她之前移植的新腎臟開始再度衰竭，需要進行另一次移植手術。當時一位四歲女孩和她的家人無私的奉獻，使瑪麗可以透過器官捐贈獲得第二次重生的機會。
“It is 25 years later and I share my story whenever I can to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation,” Mary says. “There is not a day that has gone by that I do not think about the incredible organ donors who saved my life.”
瑪麗說：“這25年以來，我盡力分享我的故事去提高人們對器官捐贈的關注。 我每天都會想起這些偉大的器官捐贈者挽救了我的生命。”
Stories courtesy of LifeCenter and the AMAT African American Workgroup Shared by the National Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation Multicultural Action Group, 2021.