Saturday, March 10, 2007

By Ashley Gardner / Texarkana Gazette

Six years ago, Stacey Kelly was faced with an unthinkable dilemma—whether to donate her husband’s organs after he’d been fatally injured by a gunshot wound.

When the doctor told me he’d run the last brain wave (test) and there was no sense in running another, he told me to consider unplugging him. The decision to donate his organs wasn’t immediate,” Kelly said. “What went through my mind was taking him home and keeping him.”

After discussing the decision with her family, Kelly decided to donate her husband’s five major organs—the kidneys, lungs, heart, pancreas and liver.

“After all of it is said and done, I think it was a great decision,” Kelly said of the choice to donate her husband’s organs. “For me, it helped with the grieving process because (his death) wasn’t all in vain.”

The impact of her choice was brought home to her the day she met Jim Carpenter, the man who received her husband’s heart.

“I met him and his family at the Baylor transplant reunion,” Kelly said of the event that brings together the families of organ donors and the people who received those precious gifts of life. “I was sitting there looking around and said I couldn’t believe I’m part of something as amazing as this.”

Carpenter, who lives in Fort Worth, was also excited to meet Kelly. In fact, he’d been trying for months to establish contact but for Kelly it was just too soon.

“I just felt like I had to meet the family because of the gift she’d gave me. I wanted to see her firsthand and thank for her it,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter will never forget what it was like to receive the news he would receive a new heart. His health had been failing since a major heart attack three years earlier.

“It’s one of those moments I can’t really explain ... I’d been waiting for three years for it to come but when I got the call I wasn’t sure how to feel. It’s hard on you to think about it because what it amounts to is you’re waiting on someone to die so you can live ... and you think about their family because you realize they’ve lost somebody for you to get your heart,” Carpenter said. “You’re excited because you get a second chance, yet you know somebody died for you to get it.”

 Since the first meeting, Kelly has become friends with Carpenter, his wife and kids.

“I’ve been camping with them. They’ve been to my house around the holidays,” Kelly said. “He’s a part of my life now and I’m a part of theirs.”

Kelly and Carpenter treasure each other’s friendship, although busy schedules don’t allow them to talk or see each other as much as they’d like.

The thought of what he may have missed is never far from Carpenter’s mind.

“I was blessed to get someone’s heart. I got to see my son go to college and graduate valedictorian,” Carpenter said. “I got to see my daughter blossom and come into her own as a young lady. I’ve gotten another six years I wouldn’t have had.”