My hubby and I saved the same stranger’s life
As the hot summer sun beat down on us, my eldest son, Drake, then four, was desperate to cool off.
‘Why don’t we ll up the paddling pool?’ my husband, Bryan, 35, suggested.
After welcoming our youngest son, Payton, ve
weeks earlier, I was grateful to have a helping hand. Watching as Bryan gently lowered himself into the water while Payton and Drake climbed in beside him, I snapped a photo.
Bryan was such a doting dad.
We’d met six years earlier, at a theme park where we both worked and shared a fondness for camping, shing and the great outdoors.
I soon learnt what a hard-working and honest man Bryan was too, and when he proposed a year later, I was over the moon.
Although he didn’t have the funds to buy me a ring, it didn’t matter to me.
‘I’m not marrying you for your money, I’m marrying you for who you are,’ I smiled.
Tying the knot in September 1995, it was one of the happiest moments of my life.
But, less than one month after the blissful day in the paddling pool, our whole world was turned upside down when Bryan was involved in a workplace accident.
After days of rain, Bryan and his brother, who worked together at his roo ng business, went to visit a client’s house to ensure there were no leaks on a recent repair they’d done.
The rain caused the roof to become slippery and Bryan slid off the edge, hitting his head on an air conditioning unit.
Rushed to hospital, he underwent emergency surgery, but the severe head trauma he suffered meant he couldn’t be saved.
Kept alive by a machine, I made the heartbreaking decision to let him go.
I was devastated, but I knew I had to stay strong for little Drake and Payton.
‘I promise to always talk about you to the kids so they know what a good person you were,’ I vowed.
Always the rst to help others in need, Bryan had spoken openly about his wish of being an organ donor if anything should happen to him.
‘There’s no point me taking things I don’t need,’ he’d always say.
So, when doctors told me Bryan was a match for people who were desperately waiting for transplants, I knew
Following in her husband’s footsteps, Terri Herrington, 49, helped change a man’s life
he’d want to help.
Incredibly, Bryan’s heart, lungs, kidneys and pancreas were used to save the lives of four other people.
Then, a month after his death, I received an anonymous letter from one of the recipients, who had one of Bryan’s kidneys and his pancreas. You gave me a second chance at life, the handwritten letter said.
Though I was still grieving the loss of my husband, hearing the impact he’d had on others and their loved ones helped me heal.
Then a year later, once the recipients had signed a release form through the organ donation agency in the US where we live, I was nally allowed to get in touch with them.
So I sent them all a letter, along with my phone number, in the hope they’d want to learn more about the man who had saved them.
The following week I received a call from Jeffrey Granger – the 44-year-old man who received Bryan’s kidney and pancreas.
‘I’m sorry your husband had to die for me to live,’ he said.
Speaking for 45 minutes to Jeff and his wife, Pam,
I learned that before the transplant, Jeff’s kidneys had failed due to a life-long battle with diabetes and he was relying on dialysis.
Forming an instant connection with them both, we kept in touch often and met up several times a year.
Then, during one visit to our home, Payton, then three, put his hand on
Jeff’s stomach.
‘My dad’s in there,’ he said. ‘He sure is,’ Jeff replied. ‘And I’ll try to keep him alive as long as I can.’
Just two months old when his dad died, Payton had grown to learn just how sel ess his father had been.
Then in January 2019 – after 15 years of friendship – Jeff called with shocking news. Bryan’s donated kidney was failing.
Without hesitation,
I offered up one of my own.
‘It will be like Bryan and I are back together again,’ I smiled.
First we needed to make sure I was a match.
When the results came back, I called Jeff right away.
‘Are you ready for a piece of me?’ I joked.
Finally, in March this year, Jeff and I were wheeled into surgery for our transplant.
While Bryan’s failing kidney stayed inside Jeff, my healthy one was added beside it. Afterwards, Jeff came to my room.
Struggling to express his gratitude, he gifted me a necklace with a tree of life pendant with thank you engraved on the back.
Now, four months on from the procedure, Jeff is feeling healthier than ever and I feel closer to Bryan than I have in 15 years.
I’m sharing my story to encourage others to talk openly about becoming an organ donor with their loved ones. Giving someone a second chance at life is the greatest gift of all.