ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – The number of organ donations — and those waiting waiting lists — continues to grow. The New England Donor Service has tracked a 52% increase in organ donation with 16,000 donors nationally. For one central Vermont family, it turned a tragedy into a miracle.
Organ donation is something families never want to prepare for.
“I hadn’t thought about it at all. Not many 24-year-olds think about having to make that choice for their spouse,” said Carrie Bogie of Groton, whose husband, Nick, died in a 2011 logging accident.
The coupe had one child and another on the way. Since his death was unexpected, so was the question of organ donation. “In the beginning I was angry, I was mad, I could not believe they were asking me this, like he was still alive, from what I felt,” Bogie said. But it was her in-laws that made a suggestion that changed her perspective. “If everybody could have a little piece of Nick, the world would be a better place.” Ultimately, Nick’s heart valves, two kidneys, pancreas, and liver were donated.
Nick’s story is seen as a success as the New England Donor Service says out of the thousands of deaths in New England, there is only about a two percent chance of a successful organ donation in each death. But with new technology, the organization’s Alex Galzier says the organ pool is growing, with about 33 Vermonters receiving organs each year. “We are actually able to use organs from an expanding pool of donors. Hepatitis used to be a condition in a donor that we would medically rule out. But now with medical advancement — and hepatitis being treatable if not curable — then it is no longer a rule out for organ donation,” Galzier said.
And hospitals like Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital — which has received national recognition for its efforts on eye and tissue donor registrations — play a role in the process of connecting donors with patients. While the hospital doesn’t do transplants, officials say the donor service facilitates the conversations with families during what can be a sensitive time. “It’s been a godsend really to have the New England Donor Bank or other procurement organizations be involved in the donor situation because then it takes the pressure off us,” said NVRH’s Sarah Christman.
A question that’s never easy but one that has helped Carrie Bogie heal from the loss of her husband. “Ever since then, it has filled me with such joy to know he has saved so many people’s lives.” Bogie said.