Melville boy’s organs give gift of life to four others
Trendon Zagrodney didn’t waste a moment.
He was lovable. He was giving. He was short for his age, but that didn’t stop him from playing basketball and every other sport available to him. Winter suited him best because his allergies and his asthma weren’t as bad, so even in 40 below weather, you’d find him and his two brothers out on the ice rink.
He excelled in academics, loved math and science, did improv and participated in school musicals.
When asked what she misses most about her son, Sherra Zagrodney’s answer was nothing less than you’d expect from a loving mother. “Everything.”
Trendon was 12 years old when he passed away from a severe asthma attack caused by anaphylactic shock on July 1. He and his family had travelled from their home in Melville to see an allergy specialist in Saskatoon. The appointment confirmed what the family had suspected, Trendon was allergic to freshwater fish. Sherra and her husband Michael were told they couldn’t even cook it around him. But the next day Trendon accidentally ate some fish when the family went out for a buffet supper.
What seemed like the usual symptoms of asthma and a mild allergic reaction at first turned into an emergency just a few hours later.
The family had gone back to their hotel pool for a swim after dinner, but Trendon felt progressively worse. At one point, Michael took Trendon back to their room for some medication. Moments later, Michael rushed back to the pool and told Sherra to grab the kids and go. Trendon needed a hospital.
“As we were running to the room, (Michael) was running out of the room and threw me the hotel room card. He was dragging Trendon behind him and I could just see him struggling to breath and even then his lips were turning blue,” recalls Sherra.
By the time Sherra and her other two sons grabbed shoes and got to the hotel lobby, Trendon was lying on the floor — his dad performing CPR on him.
“He tried so hard,” said Sherra. “We’re sure he died in his arms that day.”
Within a few minutes an ambulance was there to take Trendon to the hospital, and they were able to restart his heart. But doctors said it had been stopped for 35 minutes, and Sherra said a part of them knew at that moment that Trendon wouldn’t be coming back.
Slipping between the phrase “he is” and “he was,” Sherra described Trendon as someone that everyone loved and everyone knew — a Riders fan, a Pittsburgh Penguins fan and a boy who was constantly on the go.
After several tests over the next 24 hours, Trendon was declared brain-dead at 11:11 a.m. on July 1. When the doctors broached the subject of organ donation, it didn’t take long for Sherra and Michael to decide. “He was a very helpful kid. He was very giving. It seemed like it was his nature to do,” said Sherra.
Trendon’s lungs, liver and two kidneys went on to save four lives that day. What struck Sherra the most was that his lungs saved a child like Trendon.
“Just knowing that it was given to another child and knowing that those parents get to have their child because of Trendon ... It’s hard. It’s so hard, but it’s wonderful to know ...” said Sherra.
She hopes Trendon’s story inspires others to make the decision to become an organ donor.