Honoring the Organ Donor

Summary

A hospital honors an organ donor with a ceremonial "honor walk" before his organs are donated, recognizing the human aspect of organ donation and the gift of life.

Abstract

The article describes a heartfelt ceremony at an Illinois hospital for a patient who had suffered brain death and was an organ donor. The hospital, led by a staff member who had learned of the practice elsewhere, organized an "honor walk" where staff lined the hallway as the patient was taken to the operating room for organ donation. The ceremony included a reading of a poem and a prayer for the donor, their family, and the recipients. The family appreciated the gesture, feeling it restored humanity to the clinical process. The staff member expresses a belief that such ceremonies should be standard practice and shares a prayer/poem for future occasions, emphasizing the sanctity of life and the selfless act of organ donation.

Opinions

The author believes that organ donors should be honored beyond the clinical aspect of the process, viewing them as gift-givers who extend life to others.
The act of organ donation is seen as a continuation of life's journey, where the donor's organs allow others to live and breathe.
The family's appreciation of the honor walk suggests that such gestures are meaningful and provide comfort during a difficult time.
The author advocates for the widespread adoption of honor walks in hospitals, considering it a fitting way to pay tribute to organ donors.
The prayer/poem reflects the author's spiritual perspective on organ donation, acknowledging the body as a gift from God and the act of donation as an expression of peace and healing.

They are more than just a donor. They are a gift-giver.

We had a patient who suffered brain death after cardiac arrest. He had previously signed up to be an organ donor, and so when he was declared brain dead, the organ donation network (called Gift of Hope here in Illinois) came and arranged to have his kidneys donated to two people. His other organs, unfortunately, could not be donated.

Prior to his leaving the ICU to the operating room, we all gathered together to honor him and his gift of life to another person. I was distinctly honored to read a poem, and I then led the group in a prayer for him, his family, and the recipients of his kidneys. Then, everyone in the hospital who was available (including the hospital CEO) lined the hallway from the ICU to the operating room and stood in silent honor of him and his gift. The family was there to witness it all.

Later, I heard that the family really appreciated this gesture of honor. Before this, they felt everything felt “clinical,” like all that mattered was keeping his body alive so the organs can be kept alive. Our honoring him made him human again.

This made me so happy.

I first learned about this “honor walk,” as we call it, during a night shift I was working at a hospital in St. Louis. I immediately replicated it at our hospital. Every hospital should do such a thing.

People who donate their organs are not just “donors.” They are gift-givers, willingly giving what God gave them so that others may live and breathe after them. It is only fitting that we honor them.

Going forward, if I am ever given the opportunity to pray again for a patient who donates her organs, I will read this prayer in the form of a poem:

Lord our God, God of Hope, God of Healing, God of Life:

You gave me this body, and You gave me my soul That I may walk and breathe and live Now You have called me back to become whole And so my body, as a gift, I now give

I tried to live a life that was best To spread Your Peace and do none harm And now that I am to be laid to rest Please, O Lord, embrace me in your Arms

I pray, O Lord, my heart does not fail So that Your child can live and love I pray, O Lord, my lungs always sail So that Your child can breathe from above

I pray, O Lord, my liver runs along To keep Your child sane and whole I pray, O Lord, my kidneys sing their song And let Your child laugh and console

And if, O Lord, I cannot give all You Gave I pray that You bless whatever was saved

Now please, O Lord, comfort my beloved Lord, bring them ease from their pain Please, O Lord, look after my beloved And shower Your Care like the rain

Also, O Lord, bless the ones who received The gift I passed from You to they Give them the grace of stress relieved And to them Your Peace do I convey

In Your Most Holy Name do I pray, Amen.