OCH Regional Medical Center hosted a Donate Life ceremony Wednesday morning in recognition of National Donate Life Month celebrated every April.
Lindy Oswalt spoke during the ceremony in honor of her son Carter, a heart transplant recipient, and her close friend Dr. Shauna Witt, a Starkville optometrist who was shot to death on Jan. 13.
Oswalt said she has been the mother of a donor recipient for eight years this month.
"I've always stood on this side of organ donation, the side that is overwhelmed by donor family and the decision they made on the worst days of their life," Oswalt said. "I stood on the side that felt vulnerable and hopeless, and the side that felt guilty for praying Carter would receive a new heart sooner rather than later."
As a member of a recipient family, Oswalt thanked all the donor families for their sacrifice and for not closing off in their hurt but instead saying "yes" through their tears.
Oswalt said this is the first time she's acted on behalf of a donor and her family.
After Witt's death, her corneas were donated to a person in need.
"My sweet friend, Dr. Shauna Witt, exemplified kindness through her family and friends, those she worked with and those she served as an optometrist," Oswalt said. "Shauna lived her life in such a way, that when it came time for her family to discuss what she would have wanted, the decision was unanimous. We all knew what she would have wanted was to be kind and to donate."
According to OCH Chief Nursing Officer Dr. Martha Fulcher, nearly 114,000 men, women and children are currently waiting for lifesaving organ transplants and hundreds of thousands more are in need of corneal and tissue transplants.
On average, Fulcher said, 20 people die each day because the organs they need are not donated in time.
"Fortunately, one donor can save or heal the lives of more than 50 people," Fulcher said. "OCH Regional Medical Center is committed to insuring individuals and families are offered the option of donation. Today we are here to honor and show our appreciation to the donors and their families who have given the gift of life."
OCH Public Relations Director Mary Kathryn Knight said through donors like Witt, others are able to have a second chance at life.
"Because of Dr. Witt, someone else can see now,” Kight said. “Someone else has that gift because of her, and that's amazing." Kellie Wier, director of Hospital Development for the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency, said every day MORA is humbled by the compassions and generosity of donors and their families, and without those individuals, they would be unable to fulfill their mission of saving and enhancing lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
During the ceremony, those in attendance released biodegradable balloons in honors of donors, recipients, and their families, and in remembrance of the 114,000 people who are on the transplant list.
The white balloons, which were given to the donor families present, signified the donor and the selfless gesture of generosity, giving life and hope to someone else. The eight blue balloons represented the eight organs and the eight potential recipients who may be saved through one organ donor. The green balloons represented the many life-changing tissue transplants that can occur from one tissue donors through cornea transplants and skin and bone grafts.
Anyone interested in signing up to become an organ donor can fill out an online form at www.donatelifems.org