Reader: Brothers’ story touched her heart

Dear Editor:

I just had to write and tell you what a wonderful story on the front page titled “1 Heartbeat.”

It got my interest immediately and I couldn’t put the paper down until I had finished it. Thank you for bringing such an interesting story to us.

I believe in organ donation and when my husband passed in 1995 of a massive myocardial infarction, I tried to donate. A code was called on Ray and that eliminated a lot – organs, veins and I don’t remember. I tried to donate the bones, but rheumatoid arthritis made that too impossible.

The only thing usable were his corneas, and they were transplanted successfully. A 3-year-old nephew, who died of a massive stroke, was a kidney and liver donor in 1986. In fact, the liver went to a little girl in the northern U.S. who had been in a coma and was approaching death. She woke up and smiled at her mother after receiving the new liver – and we received this word before Jeffrey’s burial.

So you can see why this story touched me. Organ donation goes way back for us.

Mary Lynn Blanchard,

Lockport