LIFESAVING DECISION
Kern Medical ceremony brings attention to organ donations, National Donate Life Month
Lori Malkin vividly recalls the night her son was involved in what ultimately proved to be a fatal accident, and how it changed her outlook forever.
Malkin said it was just over 12 years ago when she received a phone call in the middle of the night that Jeff was in a coma at Kern Medical.
Malkin, the founder of the local organization JJ’s Legacy, which educates and encourages community members to become registered organ donors, shared her story outside Kern Medical on Wednesday morning. It coincided with the hospital joining the Flags Across America campaign in recognition of April being National Donate Life Month. The event was highlighted by guest speakers and a flag raising ceremony.
“He loved life. And he had the best smile. He loved to smile, he loved people,” Malkin said of Jeff, who was 27 at the time. “He would give you the shirt off of his back. He just was the most giving young man that I know.”
Malkin rushed to the hospital immediately after the accident, making her way through the emergency area
and into Kern Medical’s trauma center. That’s where she saw Jeff hooked up to a ventilator, tubes and covered in blankets. He had suffered a significant brain injury.
The family was approached about organ donation, despite Jeff not being a registered donor.
“We said ‘yes,’” Malkin recalled. “He saved five lives, which is a miracle.”
Eight of Jeff’s organs were donated.
One person received a liver and kidney. Another person got Jeff’s pancreas.
His donated tissue enhanced the lives of 50 individuals. He also donated his cornea. “Those individuals that were blind can now see sunrises and sunsets,” Malkin said.
Malkin pointed out that the experience gave her family comfort knowing that Jeff’s organs helped save others, and she believes many can benefit in the same form and fashion while facing tragedy.
“There’s something beyond death,” she said. “We have created so many new memories with his loss. Memories we can hold onto.”
Mauri Armijo with OneLegacy, an organ, eye and tissue recovery organization that serves Kern County, said Wednesday’s flag raising was meant as a sign of unity but also served as an avenue to increase awareness regarding organ donor registration.
Armijo said many aren’t aware if they are registered donors or not, and every person’s contributions could make a substantial difference in the lives of others.
According to a news release from Kern Medical, 107,000 patients nationwide are in need of lifesaving organ transplants. Additionally, 17 million Californians are registered to be donors at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
“We want to have this flag continue to blow in the wind, to remind us to talk to those around us,” she said. “You talk to a few people, who will talk to more, and we will continue to get that word out.”
Kern Medical’s ceremony was preceded earlier this month by similar commemorations at Dignity Health, which held a series of flag raising ceremonies at its local hospitals in honor of the cause. Those events were conducted at Memorial Hospital, Mercy Hospital Southwest and Mercy Hospital Downtown.
Kern Medical CEO Russell Judd closed Wednesday’s ceremony by hearkening back to a statement he once heard regarding such donations.
“Leave your organs behind. Heaven knows you don’t need them there. Have them and share that gift of life.”