Reeling from the death of first her husband, Mark, from cancer, followed two weeks later by a horrific car crash that claimed the life of her 13-year old daughter, Chelsea, and her own devastating injuries, she found it hard to find the will to go on.
But she knew she had to – if for no other reason than the sake of her son, Hayden, who was only 14 at the time.
She remembers that day in late April 2005 when she woke from a coma in intensive care and was told that her precious daughter was not going to make it.
Already a supporter of organ donation, Richardson had often told those around her that she wanted to be an organ donor herself. So, it was without a lot of hesitation that she gave the go ahead to have her daughter’s organs donated – a move she’s sure would have met with Chelsea’s approval.
Since the accident had happened near Hartwell close to the South Carolina line, both Richardson and her daughter had been transported to a South Carolina hospital. And it was there that LifePoint, the donor organization in that state, came into their lives.
“They don’t just get your permission (for the donation) and then forget about you, they are there when you need them,” Richardson said.
And it has been this support that Richardson says has helped her and Hayden to get through the days these past three years. Not only do they attend monthly support groups in Anderson, South Carolina, which are sponsored by LifePoint, in July they attended the U.S. Transplant Games, sponsored by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), which were held in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The games are held every two years.
ABOUT THE GAMES
The Olympic-style NKF U.S. Transplant Games hosts more than 1,300 athletes from all over the U.S. and several foreign countries. The games have been held every two years since 1990 in order “to offer transplant athletes an array of competitions in 12 different sports. Recipients of every type of lifesaving organ transplant, including kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas and bone marrow, compete for gold silver and bronze medals as they celebrate their second chance at life and show the world the power of organ donation,” according to “Inspiration,” the program book for this year’s transplant games.
And besides the sporting venues, there are plenty of special ceremonies honoring living and deceased donors as well as donor families, along with workshops and support groups.
A transplant recipient himself, actor Larry Hagman served as the special speaker at this year’s games. He has been attending them since 1996.
GLAD THEY WENT
Though somewhat hesitant about making the trip, Richardson said she’s awfully glad she did. She believes it was especially beneficial to Hayden, now a senior at Madison County High School.
“Hayden made a lot of new friends,” Richardson said. “Several just adopted him as their own.”
It was especially touching to see him bond with several fathers there who had lost their own sons.
One gentleman in the transplant games gave Hayden his gold medal in track and field – something she says her son will never forget.
“It just reinforced my feelings about how something good could come out of something so terrible,” she said.
Everywhere they went, from the time they got on the plane in South Carolina until their return trip home they were greeted by strangers who thanked them for giving the gift of life through organ donation.
Richardson said one of the worst misconceptions out there about organ donations is that “they won’t save you” if you’re an organ donor.
“That’s just crazy,” she said. “I actually had someone tell me they had been told not to say they’re an organ donor on their license, because doctors won’t try to save them.”
In the first place, regardless of what’s on a driver’s license, the ultimate decision comes down to family members, she said. “If you want to be an organ donor, you need to tell everybody so they know – and write down your instructions,” she added.
Richardson says her worst fear has been that people will forget Chelsea. But she’s found those fears are ungrounded. Chelsea’s friends post things on a special MySpace page dedicated to her daughter, who’d now be 16, and they never forget special occasions, like her birthday or Christmas. LifePoint group meetings and the Transplant Games were just another way to help her realize that her daughter will never be forgotten.
Not only does Chelsea live on in the four individuals who got her kidneys, lungs and liver, she also lives on in the faces of all those whose lives have been touched by such a selfless gift of life, Richardson has come to realize.
And though she hasn’t found the courage to get in contact with any of those who received Chelsea’s organs, she feels a step closer to making that move now that she’s been to the Transplant Games. She cherishes correspondence from LifePoint, which also includes letters from the recipients of her daughter’s organs. From these, she says, she and Hayden have found enormous peace.
“The gratitude of complete strangers during the games made me realize how much they (recipients) want to hear from the family of their donor,” Richardson said.
After she and Hayden returned from the games in July, Richardson sat down and wrote a poem to express her feelings. A portion of it reads: “..I have dealt with so much anger, but it was lessened by so many strangers, It is plain to see, it is shown, that you have kept families from the grief you’ve known. Such love, care and hugs to share, somehow helped to lift some of our despair, we can’t wait to meet our new friends again, hope to be with them in 2010.”
More on organ donation:
For more information on the U.S. Transplant Games, which are held every other year, go to www.transplantgames.org. For more information on organ donation, visit www.lifepoint-sc.org
