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Fredericksburg-area organ donors honored with a holiday memorial tree dedicated at Mary Washington Hospital. Date published: 11/18/2001
URING THE SIX years he was on earth, Brian Henson never took in a sunrise. Never watched a baseball game. Never saw the faces of his parents or siblings. Only after Brian died did his eyes finally see. He is one of 29 area organ donors honored with a holiday memorial Angel Tree dedicated last week at Mary Washington Hospital. Brian was 6 years old when he died in 1997, from complications of what should have been a routine surgery on his hip. The fact that he lived that long was a miracle in itself. Born with cerebral palsy and other birth injuries, doctors told his parents, Anna and Paul, that their son would die by age 2. Anna Henson says that every day they had with Brian "was a gift." Because of Brian's handicaps, there was a lot he couldn't do. His parents had to feed him through a tube, and he couldn't communicate well. "If there's one thing that wasn't wrong with him, it was his ears," said Brian's brother, Justin, 13. Brian loved the sound of Velcro being ripped, loved the sound of his family's voices, loved music. Even if he'd been crying, his family said, his face would break into a huge smile when they started playing Crosby, Stills & Nash CDs. Brian's family adjusted to the special care he needed, but there was one thing they always wished they could change. "If we could have given him one thing, it would have been his vision," Paul Henson said. There was nothing wrong with Brian's eyes. The reason he couldn't see was neurological--his eyes and brain couldn't communicate. When he died, his parents immediately wanted him to be an organ donor. Because of his birth injuries, only his corneas could be transplanted. "We wanted Brian to live on through someone else," Paul Henson said. "Ironically, he was blind during his life, but his corneas went to other people to help them see. So what Brian's eyes couldn't see while he was alive, they can see now." The Angel Tree program that honors Brian and others was organized by Jan Broom, whose daughter, Shannon, became an organ donor after a car crash more than three years ago. The tree is intended not only to memorialize the area's organ donors, but also to increase awareness about the need for donation.
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