Michael Hines/Times Record News

Aubrey Reeves had congestive heart failure and a heart attack all before she was 7. But nobody could tell Wednesday night.

The 6-year-old bounded through a meeting room in United Regional Health Care System's 11th Street campus. She plopped in her dad's lap, ate cake, tugged at chairs and grabbed her pop's nose.

Quite the feats, her mother Cheryl Reeves said. Many doctors didn't think Aubrey would make it beyond 2002.

"She still will act like it's just one of those things," Reeves said, "like everyone gets a new heart every once in a while."

Aubrey has survived longer than many expected thanks to two heart transplants. Her life underscores the good that organ donations can reap.

Those efforts took center stage Wednesday as the Southwest Transplant
Alliance honored URHCS's help with donor efforts. It was a chance to thank the people who help grieving families, said Trisha DeCoopman, client service coordinator.

"The staff has been very committed to saving and improving lives through organ donations," she said.

Wichita Falls has made a big difference.

The Dallas-based transplant group is one of 59 federally designated, nonprofit organ donation agencies. Donations increased to record levels in 2003, according to the organization, and marked the best performance for any Texas organ procurement organization. For the first time, a Texas organ donation agency got organs from 220 donors.

It was a 28 percent increase in donors from 2002 to 2003, with regional areas providing more organ donors than the Dallas area for the first time. Among those outlying areas, Wichita Falls saw significant gains.

In 2001, there were four organ donors. A year later donors slipped to one.

Last year, however, eight donated organs and this year could be just as significant. Three donors have come in so far.

Sally Hastings is a registered nurse and heads the team that talks to families about donating as patients approach brain death. Donors must die in a hospital while on a ventilator to be eligible to donate.

Families can override a person's wish to donate, so donors need to stress those desires beforehand, DeCoopman said. Donating often provides relief for a family once grief has eased, Hastings said.

"It's very rewarding. In that time, there's very little you can do for a family, but it is one thing I can offer them," she said. "It's not going to offer them much comfort (then) but, looking back, they will feel better."

The increase actually points to a growing trend among patients: nurses may not even need to approach family members.

"There's definitely an increased awareness," Hastings said. "There're more families bringing it up. They realize that their loved one is gone but that their loved one was a giving, caring person who would want to keep on giving."

The staff's vigilance in watching for potential donors has also been a plus, DeCoopman said.

The hospital provides space and facilities for the Dallas physician teams. Hospital staff members don't perform the surgery or extractions. They do, however, monitor situations and approach potential families.

In 2003, it meant 28 trauma and non-trauma referrals resulting in eight donors. Those donors, in turn, provided 33 organs for 29 people. Similar giving helped Aubrey deal with a congenital heart defect that went misdiagnosed for weeks. After it was discovered, she got a new heart in October 2000 - but her problems weren't done. The new heart developed coronary artery disease and caused her to go into cardiac arrest and nearly into a coma.

"They didn't see any possibility of her coming back this time," Cheryl Reeves said.

Aubrey finally got a second heart in April 2002. She's still not out of the woods, Cheryl Reeves said. In December, Aubrey's body showed signs of rejecting the organ.

Too many people don't even get that far, DeCoopman said. There are 15,000 medically suitable potential organ donors in the United States each year, Southwest Transplant Alliance education director Pam Silvestri has said. More than 80,000 Americans - 5,500 Texans - are on the transplant waiting list. About 20 people die every day while waiting. One person goes on the list every 15 minutes, she said.

"The number of recipients waiting continues to rise," DeCoopman said. "We need more organ donors."