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Vicky Niblett hangs an ornament on the Angel Tree in honor of her daughter Zara Beth, who died soon after birth.
Angela Lord of Spotsylvania comforts her daughter Gracie, 5, at the Mary Washington Hospital event. Lord's dad, Ross Nicholson, was an organ donor. |
BY AARON RICHARDSON
Vicky Niblett's daughter Zara died moments after birth.
Despite her grief, Niblett knew she wanted her child to be an organ donor.
"If there was any way that we could help another family in our situation, then we'd definitely do that," said Niblett, a Stafford County resident.
Niblett's daughter was one of 140 organ donors recognized at a special event last night at Mary Washington Hospital.
The Angel Tree ceremony, a tradition since 2001, attracts families of organ donors and grateful organ recipients who celebrate the gift of life.
Last night, families of donors hung engraved glass ornaments on a tree in the Mary Washington Hospital lobby to commemorate their family members' contributions to others. The event is sponsored by the hospital and LifeNet Health.
For Niblett, whose daughter died
"After a year, I got in touch with LifeNet," she said. "They said, 'Two babies are alive because of Zara Beth.'"
Niblett said she was helped through her loss by Tammy Ruiz, perinatal bereavement coordinator at MWH.
"Tammy took her hand impressions and her feet impressions and a wisp of her hair," Niblett said. "At the time, I would have never in a million, million years thought to do that, but now they're my most prized possessions."
Anne Kirchmier, a heart transplant recipient from Stafford, spoke at the ceremony about the difference her organ donor made in her life.
Kirchmier, 51, spent 12 years struggling with a debilitating heart condition before receiving a transplant in 2007.
Before her heart problems began, Kirchmier, who calls her donor "Amy," was a long-distance runner. As her illness advanced and she could no longer run, she felt more and more helpless.
"I felt very alone and very afraid," she said.
With her transplant successful, Kirchmier has been able to take up running again. In August she traveled to Australia, where she took gold for Team USA in the 3,000-meter race in the Transplant Olympic Games.
Kirchmier gives all the credit for her win to her donor, and always refers to her running as a team effort.
As a way of thanking her donor's family, Kirchmier has framed her gold medal from Australia and is sending it to them.
"I want them to know I'm taking care of the heart," Kirchmier said in a statement from LifeNet. "I want to be the fittest heart transplant patient I can be."
For Marribeth Thorpe, the event holds special significance.
Thorpe, a mother and Spotsylvania County schoolteacher, donated one of her own kidneys to her brother, Michael Kane.
After the donation, Kane's health did a 180, and he was able to have a third child after the operation.
"It was just an unbelievable feeling," Thorpe said.
Six years after his operation, Michael Kane suffered a massive heart attack while playing softball and died.
After his death, Kane became a tissue donor.
"What the [donor] families are going through, I went through that, too," Thorpe said. "But we also shared it when [Michael] was alive."
For the families of organ donors, the loss of a loved one can be made easier by their ability to help someone else. According to LifeNet media relations manager Dena Reynolds, attendance at the Angel Tree event grows each year.
"We have more donors each year," Reynolds said. "LifeNet sends invitations to everyone who has lost someone in the area."
For Thorpe, organ donation is more than just a good deed.
"It's such a gift to us all. Some people are so skeptical to be an organ donor, but if they could just hear the stories of the donors they would change their minds," she said.
Aaron Richardson:
Email: arichardson@freelancestar.com
