DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Gary Simmons is thankful beyond words that Peggy Long’s family made the decision it did almost one year ago.
He feels just as strongly that it’s a choice no family should have to make.
Long, 59, of Kannapolis, a 59-year-old grandmother of seven, died last Jan. 22 at Carolinas Medical Center Northeast after suffering a stroke. Moments after her death, hospital officials came to Long’s family with a question:
Would they be willing to have Long’s organs harvested for possible transplant?
Long was not registered as an organ donor, so the grieving family’s consent was required.
About 15 miles away, the 63-year-old Simmons and his wife, the Rev. Lib McGregor Simmons, pastor at Davidson College Presbyterian Church, were settling in for the night in their Davidson home. A genetic disorder had resulted in Simmons developing cirrhosis, and his liver had deteriorated to the point where his doctors told him he would not live much longer without a transplant.
Within hours, one family’s hope would bloom from the grief of another.
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"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor TODAY
In California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net
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