Purposeful Gift

If you have been reading my blog for less than a year, you may not know about my precious grandson, Amalya Nathaniel. He was born about ten months ago with a congenital birth defect called anencephaly. That is where the skull does not fully develop, and it is not possible for babies with this condition to survive outside the womb. We were immensely blessed to lavish him with love the whole time our daughter carried him, and he was loved and held the entire one hour and twenty minutes that he lived after delivery.

As difficult as this journey was, my daughter and her husband strongly felt that part of the healing process would be if they could donate his organs to help someone else. When they first explored these options, however, they were repeatedly told that donation for him would be impossible. But, they were determined and kept looking under every rock and pebble, so to speak. Only three days before Amalya was born, things finally fell into place. In the end, they were able to donate his liver, pancreas, aorta, and whole body to four different research groups along with blood and skin samples to two other research groups.

Over the last several months, they have had the opportunity to share their experience with many people. Our daughter decided to put together a website in an effort to give correct information regarding organ and tissue donation for other expectant families who have received a terminal diagnosis. I spent the first week of July helping DD#2 get her new website, Purposeful Gift, http://purposefulgift.com/ up and running, and she has taken over from there.

If you have a family member or friend who could benefit from this information, please feel free to share it with them.

You can read more details about their incredible journey searching for opportunities to donate organs in IIAM’s (International Institute for the Advancement of Medicine) Winter 2013 eJournal.