Organ donor memorial unveiled
Inspiration & funding provided by family of NCMC’s first organ donor honor walk participants
GREELEY – Banner Health’s North Colorado Medical Center (NCMC) in Greeley unveiled its new organ donor memorial wall Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2022, according to a news release.
The inspiration and funding for the organ donor memorial wall comes from NCMC’s first honor walk participants – the Gillmores – who, after tragically losing their son in 2018, have stated, “our grief will not define us as a family.”
On Dec. 3, 2018, Travis and Jennifer Gillmore’s son, Connor, died at the age of 22 following a singlecar rollover accident. Connor suffered a traumatic brain injury but avoided damage to his internal organs, making him an ideal candidate for donation.
He was transported to NCMC but ultimately his injuries were not survivable. Because Connor was a registered organ, eye and tissue donor, following the accident, NCMC contacted Donor Alliance – a federally designated, nonprofit organ procurement organization serving Colorado and most of Wyoming – to start the search for patients who would give new life to Connor’s organs.
“It was a surprise to us. We’d never spoken about it with Connor and weren’t organ donors ourselves,” Jennifer Gillmore said.
“But once it was confirmed that he was on the organ donor list, it was very easy for us to support Connor’s decision. There wasn’t any debating or second guessing.”
Donor Alliance was able to find five recipients for Connor’s organs, and surgery was scheduled within 24 hours.
Before surgery, Connor’s family participated in NCMC’s first honor walk – a practice that allows family and friends to escort their loved one to the operating room while medical staff line the halls to pay respect to both the family and the donor. To further honor Connor, Donor Alliance asked his parents to share their sentiments on who Connor was so that they could read aloud in the operating room prior to surgery.
In the months following Connor’s donation, the Gillmores heard from a few of the organ and tissue recipients, but Olivia Eisenhauer, the recipient of Connor’s heart, would form a lasting relationship with the family.
Olivia was born with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes the chambers of the heart to stiffen over time. She had been on the organ donation waitlist for two years at the time of Connor’s accident.
About a year after her transplant, when Olivia eventually connected with the Gillmores, she said they immediately felt like family. Since that time, Olivia has been able to visit them on several occasions and even talks to Connor’s sister, Meghan, daily saying she, “always wanted a big sister.”
Now, at age 20, Olivia is a student at Arizona State University, where she’s pursuing her dream to become a sports broadcast sideline reporter. She refers to the donation as, “the best gift she’s ever been given” saying she “lives every day to the absolute fullest and just wants to make her family and the Gillmores proud.”
Remembering Connor and honoring who he was has been paramount for the Gillmores. Connor was the oldest of their four children and had an infectious sense of humor, a love for working with his hands and an affinity for swimming. As a tribute to his love of building cars, his family established a master automobile service technology scholarship at Aims Community College in his name and has already awarded nearly 30 students more than $70,000. There has also been a scholarship fund set up at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Greeley in his name.
The organ donor memorial wall at NCMC started as a way to honor Connor’s memory but has grown into a representation of what organ donation and the gift of life can mean to those who are in need. The focal piece of the memorial will be a 15-foot tree of life, an artistic expression of wood and paint designed by local artist Betony Coons, that will honor the names of NCMC organ donors. The installation will also feature a 65-inch interactive video display that will offer educational resources provided by Donor Alliance, profiles honoring past organ and tissue donors and will allow viewers to register to become organ donors onsite.
About Banner Health
Banner Health is one of the largest, secular, nonprofit health care systems in the country.
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