Organ-donor families ?celebrate 25 years of life

When she was 13 years old, Danielle MacKinzie, of Sonoma, decided she wanted to be an organ donor.

Danielle spotted the organ donor symbol on her mother’s driver’s license. After a brief explanation about what the symbol was, Danielle decided that she, too, would check the organ donation box when she received her license at age 16.

However, Danielle’s wish to save the lives of others happened sooner than expected. The 14-year-old Sonoma Valley High School student died suddenly in 1991 of complications from a tonsillectomy and, within 24 hours, her heart and liver were transplanted into two women.

Barbara Young, of Sacramento, was the recipient of young Danielle’s liver, and has lived a life of gratitude ever since.

Young, now 76, was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease in 1989 – and by 1991 medicine was the only thing keeping her alive. After the successful transplant, Young devoted her life to giving back, by speaking about the importance of organ donations to the public, as well as to nurses, who are often set with the task of educating families about organ donation at hospitals.

“All through my journey of the illness the nurses that helped me were absolutely wonderful, so kind,” said Young, “I made a promise to myself that I would thank every nurse I came across.” Since receiving Danielle’s liver, Young has spoken to thousands of nurses and community members about the life-saving nature of transplants.

Young has stayed in touch with Danielle’s family. Over the past 25 years the families have developed a familial bond that is unique to organ recipients.

A few years after Danielle’s death, her father Bill MacKinzie worked with a social worker to identify the recipients of Danielle’s organs. The social worker reached out to Young, provided her with Bill’s contact information and, soon thereafter, Young was attending a dedication ceremony in Danielle’s memory at the high school.

“It was very hard at first,” said Danielle’s mother, Taylor Hale, 56, who had moved away from Sonoma after Danielle’s death, and returned to attend the ceremony, where she first met Young and her daughter, Kristi.

Young said that “a lot of tears were shed” at that first meeting. “It was a wonderful day for me to be able to meet the family in person.”

Since that day, the two families have stayed close, celebrating Danielle’s birthday each August, as well as gathering for an annual “celebration of life” on Nov. 22, when they reflect on the day of Danielle’s death and the saving of Young’s life.

Last Tuesday, Nov. 22, marked the 25th year since Young received her liver transplant. Hale hosted the annual celebration, with close friends and family coming together, including Kristi, who was also a teenager at the time of Danielle’s death. Now 41, Kristi has worked in organ-donation outreach, sharing her mother’s story of survival and gratitude, making both Young and Hale proud.

“It’s great to see her doing so well,” an emotional Hale said, her eyes tearing up. Hale sees in Kristi what she did not get to see in Danielle: a successful career and a recent wedding engagement. “So many wonderful things are happening in Barbara’s family, thanks to Danielle’s death.”

In celebrating 25 years since the liver transplant, Young continues to share her story to anyone who will listen, an important story, given that the demand for organ donations continues to grow. Hale, meanwhile, leads a quiet life in Sonoma, working in hospitality at St. Francis Winery. Both women play their own role in celebrating Danielle’s life and hoping to encourage others to register as organ donors.

Gratitude continues to weave itself into the lives of both families. Young is grateful for the life she has been given from Danielle, and Hale is grateful for the continued outreach that Young’s family does to encourage others to become organ donors.

“How many thousands of lives have been saved because Barbara and Kristi are with us,” said Hale. “It is so great that that they put their energy out there to educate people.”

To learn more about organ donation visit http://donatelifecalifornia.org/.