When we heard the news that my husband could be a Donor, we cried tears of joy instead of sorrow because his nurses had said, "No" due to his cancer diagnosis. But, we won’t take no for an answer and encouraged his thoracic surgeon to contact the Gift of Life Donor Program. They said that Allen could still donate his corneas because there was no blood flow to them and therefore no contamination from the cancer.
The second thing that I learned was that I would receive the first and greatest gift from Allen, not just the 2 men who received a cornea. My gift was the bereavement literature, weekly grief counseling and the G.O.L. Hearts of Gold Donor Family Support Group with their monthly activities, which lead to joining Team Philadelphia and going to many Transplant Games over the years since his death. My life has never been the same and I am grateful for Allen’s decision, unbeknown to me, to designate Organ Donor on his driver’s license.
