INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Donor Network is being recognized nationally and regionally for its efforts to support donor families and the memory of donor heroes.
“A hero can be honored for saving one life or many lives,” said Jamie Rivas, director of family and donor services with Indiana Donor Network.
Comfort videos are created to help families realize the legacy a donor hero creates through changing lives.
“Understanding this is not where their loved one’s story ends. Their loved one now goes on to live on through other transplant recipients,” said Rivas.
Mike Frey lost his son Cade just two days before Thanksgiving in 2020. On the day many are sitting down to share gratitude, his son became a donor hero.
“It is something no parent ever wants to do but were thankful. We were able to and thankful because we were able to help others.
Frey says his son had his whole life ahead of him
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“He was an amazing kid. Loved to play soccer. He raced quarter midgets. He loved dirt bikes. He was a hard worker who graduated high school from Sullivan High. He just started working in the family business,” said Frey.
His passing was unexpected for his family, but through the Indiana Donor Network, his legacy lives on.
“A young man in his twenties got his heart. A man in his seventies got his liver. The gentleman seventy years old got his lungs. Two women got kidneys and a pancreas,” said Frey.
The donor video is done to comfort families, while the moment of silence is for the families of donor heroes. All of which helps families on either side of the donor process.
“He was a very giving person, and it’s great that he’s helping others still,” said Frey.
The donor comfort video earned an e-Healthcare Leadership award and the donor hero moment of silence earned recognition as a finalist in the Shorty Social Good Awards.
