In Memory of Thomas J. Davidson, 1988-2018
“My oldest son, Thomas, became a donor on July 11, 2018. Thomas loved visiting his family, helping others, working with his hands, and being outdoors.” – Charlotte, Thomas’ Mom.
You can read Thomas’ full story on our website at: saving-sight.org/2020/05/12/thomas-legacy/
“To know Tommy, he preferred Thomas, was to know someone who was helpful, respectful, loyal, and enjoyed spending time with his family, friends, and his dog. Thomas was happiest working with his hands and going hiking, camping, and riding his motorcycle,” says his mother Charlotte.
Thomas had made the decision to join the organ, eye and tissue donor registry. “I didn’t know until after the accident that he was an organ donor, but I wasn’t surprised,” says Charlotte. “Through his cornea donations, his legacy in helping others continues so that he could keep on giving to others. He didn’t know a stranger; he was that kind. Because Tommy’s corneas were separately donated, he was able to be doubly generous.”
Thomas & his mother Charlotte
Thomas & his brother Colt in Colorado
Thomas 2018
His left cornea helped restore the eyesight of a cornea transplant recipient and his right cornea went to a research facility in order to help discover the cause, and hopefully a cure, for a genetic eye disease called PPCD (Polymorphous Corneal Dystrophy).
Charlotte took part in Saving Sight’s correspondence program to say thank you to his recipients and to share about Tommy.
“I reached out to Tommy’s left cornea recipient to build a connection. I wanted to know who had been blessed with the gift of sight because of my oldest son’s generosity. The recipient happily replied. And we began to learn – I learned about the recipient as a person and the recipient was learning about Thomas as a person. It has been very rewarding for me.”
She also chose to reach out to the researcher who received Thomas’ right cornea tissue. “Because one of Tommy’s corneas went to a research facility, I wanted to make sure the scientists were making the most of their precious and life-giving donation. Eye research is important to me because it impacts the future. If PPCD (Polymorphous Corneal Dystrophy) can come even one step closer to being cured, then it’s worth the effort. If one person doesn’t have to worry about possibly going blind, then eye, tissue, and organ donation are worth giving.”
As a donor family, Charlotte has found comfort in supporting donation and in Thomas’ legacy living on. “As a donor family, donation is a way to give back, the ultimate in paying it forward. Finding out that my oldest son wanted to give of his self after he was gone, made me even more proud to be Thomas’ mom. Because I honored my son’s wish, he lives on – twice. I am comforted that Thomas’ donation benefited a recipient to see clearly again and research is actively exploring a cure for PPCD.”
“Thomas made a conscious decision to give of his self beyond his last breath. And I could not be more proud of him for his ever continuing gift of sight. Thomas, my oldest son, had the most deep blue eyes that continue to see even though Thomas cannot.”
Joining the Organ Donor Registry
You can join the national organ, eye and tissue donor registry at registerme.org. “I have been considering becoming an organ donor. Even though I wear glasses, I have been advised that I could still give the gift of sight to someone else,” says Charlotte.
As the Decedent Affairs Coordinator for The University of Kansas Health System, Mark Myers manages the day-to-day operation of their office as well as autopsy service for the health system. Mark’s support of organ, eye and tissue donation is instrumental in helping Saving Sight facilitate the gift of sight in the hospital.
“We take our work very seriously. Our goal is to never release a potential donor to the funeral home until we talk with Saving Sight as well as Midwest Transplant Network,” he says.
His team of two works 7 days a week with doctors, nurses, families, clergy, Midwest Transplant Network, Saving Sight, funeral homes and coroners to serve the families of deceased patients.
“Our entire health system is pro-donation and it trickles down to us. Every day the need for the gift of sight grows and we all realize just how valuable the gift of sight is,” says Mark.
Mark and his team work to ensure everything flows smoothly for Saving Sight and Midwest Transplant Network. “I’m very proud to partner with Saving Sight because of the work they do to help so many people – it’s a great cause that changes many lives.”
Not only does Mark support donation through his work, but he takes part in the donor advisory council at the health system. He finds it impactful hearing other’s stories of donation and learning how to be a great advocate. “Sometimes it takes a little extra time to facilitate donation, but if you think about the outcome and how many lives are changed, that time is invaluable. Once you get involved, like with donor advisory council, and you hear about the lives changed and saved out of tragedy it makes all the work we do totally worth it,” he says.
If you work at a health system and have a donor advisory council, Mark says it’s worthwhile to attend. “If you have the meetings, I encourage you to go. You not only learn so much but it can also touch your heart.”
He adds that signing up to join the donor registry is an easy process at registerme.org or at your local DMV. If you join the registry, it’s important to let your family members know your choice so there aren’t any surprises when the time comes.
“My personal preference to be a donor is important to our family and it’s the most unselfish gift you can give,” he says. “My wife and sons know how important it is to me personally. And someday it could be me or my family that needs a transplant.”
Saving Sight has joined #GivingTuesdayNow, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide.
#GivingTuesdayNow is a new global day of giving and unity that will take place on May 5, 2020 – in addition to the regularly scheduled December 1, 2020 #GivingTuesday – as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. Saving Sight is joining our nonprofit partners in coming together to created a wave of generosity, citizen engagement, action, and support for our communities and nonprofits around the world.
As part of its mission to change lives by Saving Sight, we work closely with hospitals and healthcare workers to make eye donation a reality for those in need of restored sight. Today, our clinical and hospital partners need our support more than ever as they answer the call to provide care to our communities impacted by COVID-19.
Please consider joining Saving Sight in supporting healthcare workers near and far by purchasing a t-shirt from our Bonfire.com campaign. A portion of the proceeds of your purchase will go to Saving Sight to fund our work in educating hospitals about donation and supporting their donor programs.
Available in more color and style options on Bonfire.com
Available in more color and style options on Bonfire.com
April is National Donate Life Month, a time to raise awareness about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation and to honor and celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.
I’m Nicole Flood, Communications Coordinator with Saving Sight, a nonprofit eye bank with a mission to change lives by saving sight.
Today, we’re honored to talk with Cheryl to learn more about her connection to organ, eye and tissue donation and her brother’s lasting legacy as an eye donor.
(L-R): Cheryl and Scot on a Hawaiian adventure a year after her transplant; Cheryl and Scot’s daughter and a Donate Life event; Scot with is daughter.
Hi Cheryl, thank you for taking the time to talk with me today and share your story with Saving Sight. Your brother Scot recently passed on the gift of sight as an eye donor, but he also was a living kidney donor to you many years ago.
Can you tell me a little bit about Scot – What was he like and what were some of his favorite activities?
Cheryl: Sure, so Scot was my brother and the words that we say to best describe Scot would be he was funny, and quirky, and he was just a true friend to so many people. I do think that his greatest passion in life was being a dad. He loved being active and exploring with his daughter and together they would do so many things. They loved to walk around Kansas City, and they’d hop aboard the Kansas City Streetcar and go explore City Market and various places. In asking my niece about what she remembered most about her dad she said that she really loved going to the Chiefs games and the Royals games and just having so much fun at those events. They celebrated the Kansas City World Series win and did that up big and that was just such a joyous time for Scot.
To say a little more, he did find his place really when he joined the Greater Kansas City Writing Project. There he really fell into writing – both writing his personal experiences, and also working to get other to write and share their personal experiences through writing. He was an instructional coach for Kansas City, Missouri school district and his great passion was teaching young kids to write and to really help them find their voice through writing.
Tell me about your family’s decision for Scot to be a donor and his legacy of helping others through donation.
So our experience is a little different because Scot was my kidney donor back in 1997. I’d had kidney disease that was diagnosed when I was a senior in high school and when I was 33 years old it was time that I needed a kidney. Both of my brothers were tested, both were a match, but Scot was the one who really stepped up to be my donor. For him, it was something that he could do to really help me but also just to show his character and just to do something so positive. Kidney donation was such an important thing in our family and donation in general is just so near and dear to our hearts that we wanted Scot’s legacy to include giving life to others even after he had passed.
Scot really has always helped others by giving of himself. If we needed something, we’d call him and he would be right over to help. And so it’s not surprising that he was signed up to be a donor and just really wants to help others. So this was the best way that he could continue to help even after his passing.
How do you think Scot’s legacy lives on as an eye donor?
I imagine another person being able to see because of Scot. Two people have gone from living in darkness to a window being opened where they can see so many things. We don’t know about our recipients, but I’m hoping if there’s a grandchild to be seen someone is seeing their grandchild for the first time. If there’s a beautiful sunset to be seen, I’m hoping that these people are able to enjoy a beautiful sunset. I think the things we see can shape our lives so much and I think through Scot’s donation maybe a person’s life is being changed, perspectives are being made, and just a better quality of life for someone.
As a donor family, why is donation meaningful to you and how have you found comfort in your support of eye donation and sharing Scot’s story?
It just brings us great joy to know that someone is seeing beauty through Scot’s eyes. Scot often wrote of experiencing freedom and, through the gift of his corneal tissue and the transplant that someone was able to receive, I just imagine someone is really living a more authentic live and truly experiencing freedom. I just think that Scot would most definitely want to do this for another person; if he came back and found out we had not donated anything that we could of his then I think he would be very upset with us.
His daughter is a freshman in high school now and I asked her how she felt about us donating his tissue and corneas and such and she says, “oh I’m just so glad that we did that.” Someone went and spoke to them at their high school and that she had signed something for herself to be an organ donor too. She’s just totally on board with it and I think it just really gives her great comfort that his legacy includes giving to others.
I know you were interested in writing a letter to Scot’s recipient and you learned his recipients were international. What caused you to want to reach out?
You know we just really wanted our recipient to know about Scot, but I just kind of want to really know how life has changed for our recipients. I think that possibly we could see a little bit of Scot through those eyes or just the experiences someone has seen. Hopefully the recipients are living much fuller lives now. Mostly I just want to hear from another how Scot has changed another’s life.
What would you say to others who are considering donation?
I’m such an advocate for organ donation. Scot had donated to me and then my friend ended up being a sister-like match for me, which it just seems like such a miracle that she was such a good match for me. Since my transplant, another friend of mine was an altruistic donor to a man that she did not know. And then she inspired another person to be an altruistic donor. Organ donation just really is so soul-stirring. Of course, being a kidney recipient myself I do encourage others to consider donation. There’s nothing greater than knowing one being is willing to lessen the burden of another through organ donation. When I hear organ donation stories, I know there is such good in the world. It gives our family great pride and comfort to know that our tragedy of losing Scot lessens the pain of another’s suffering. I mean I really feel like the circle of life provides through organ donation. It just seems like it’s the ultimate act of humanity. To me it reinforces my belief that we truly are placed on this earth to help out each other and to lift each other up and to give another what they need in a pretty great way.
I know that April is your 2nd transplant anniversary month, so that’s pretty special with it being Donation Life Month with Donate Life America as well.
Yes, last year my one year transplant my friend – my donor – and I got together with some people who were very supportive of organ donation and just of the road that we travelled. And I tell you that day I just was filled with gratitude and I felt like everything went right that day because I was so filled with gratitude. I felt like even the traffic parted for me, like I was walking on air. If everyone could just have a day where they think ok I am going to just completely be grateful today I think they would see what a difference a day like that can make because that’s a day that I remember so vividly. It will be different this year because I won’t be able to get together with my donor, but I plan on paying it forward by doing some donations – I don’t know where I’m going to donate to yet – but to do some donations to either St. Luke’s Kidney Transplant Clinic just to give back a little bit this year and find where there’s a need and to give myself.
That’s definitely a wonderful sentiment, and just experiencing a day like that of gratitude I think is something we all could appreciate for sure.
I had a pretty good sense of what it was like to be truly grateful that day because it had been a hard journey to get my second transplant. Of course, in looking back on it when everything at the end went so well you think, ‘oh that wasn’t so bad.’ but to be in the midst of it and to be in that place of uncertainty, it really was hard.
That’s wonderful Cheryl, Is there anything else you would like to mention that we haven’t discussed?
You know, like I said, donation can just truly stir your soul. I definitely would encourage people to find out more about organ donation. Now that I’ve learned about Saving Sight, just to learn more about eye donation. You know, I hadn’t really thought about eye donation up to the point before we lost Scot, but what a great way to help another person. Totally life changing, so my message is please donate.
Well thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us today and for allowing us to honor your brother’s legacy as a donor hero.
Thank you for talking with me.
If you would like to learn more about Saving Sight, or would like to register as a donor, please visit saving-sight.org.