Issue 2 - Summer - Providence Washington - Providence Health ...

freely and enjoy more energy. In
general, he just felt better. But those
were only the physical benefits.
“My priorities definitely changed,”
Chris says. “I’m fully aware of how
blessed I am to have my family, wife,
children and friends. To live where I
do, in a country where a transplant
is even possible! To enjoy life and be
able to see my kids become adults.”
Chris and Kurt’s little brother,
Mike, now has those same
opportunities, too. After Chris’
TRIUMPH
FROM
TRAGEDY
Drew Swank
drew swank was a goodhearted
teenager. He was the kind of
kid who on Valentine’s Day bought
red roses for every girl in his class
so none of them would be left out.
He was a football player who would
tackle an opponent and then pat
him on the back. Today, he’s still
making a difference—through his
life-changing gift.
Sadly, Drew suffered a fatal football
injury. His mother, Patti, found
herself standing over her son in an
intensive care room at Sacred Heart.
“The worst day of our life became the
best day of someone else’s,” Patti says.
transplant, Mike needed one also.
They joke that they couldn’t in
good conscience take Kurt’s other
kidney, so Mike received his lifechanging
gift from a woman he
hardly knew. “She’s a real hero,
too,” they agree.
Kurt says people who find
themselves with the opportunity
to donate a kidney to a loved one
should know, for many, it’s easy:
“You don’t even notice you’re missing
anything.”
Life for Many
Drew’s young heart is living strong
inside a father named Lee who
proudly remarks that his heart is
younger than those of his kids. His
liver went to another teenage boy in
Washington state who shared the
same jersey number—15. A man in
Seattle received Drew’s lungs, an Alaskan
received a kidney and a woman in
Ohio received the other kidney, plus
Drew’s pancreas. His corneas provided
the gift of sight to two others.
The Swank family has met the
recipient of Drew’s lungs, and even
listened to the breath in those lungs
with a stethoscope.
“That was a tearful moment for
our entire family,” says Drew’s big
sister Tara.
“God is doing a great and
mighty work through our son,”
says Drew’s dad.
It’s a sentiment shared by many
who choose for their loved ones to
become donors. Giving life to another
individual helps to add purpose to a
tragedy that otherwise is senseless.
BY THE
NUMBERS
100+
Highly trained nurses who care for
children and adults needing transplant
care at Sacred Heart
34
Members of the Transplant Services
department who coordinate the process
9
Transplant physicians
5
States served by the Sacred Heart
transplant program (Washington,
Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Alaska)
3
Sacred Heart’s transplant follow-up
clinics outside Spokane (Great Falls,
Mont.; Missoula, Mont.; Tri-Cities, Wash.)
3
U.S. heart transplant centers (out of
110) to receive the Heart Transplant
Excellence Award from HealthGrades.
Sacred Heart was one of them.
Make the Choice
There’s another number you should
know: 113,600. That’s how many people
in the U.S. are on the waiting list for an
organ transplant. Become a potential
donor by signing up and talking with
your family to make your wishes known.
Registering takes only a few minutes at
donatelife.net.
Summer 2012 Heart Beat ● 23