Organ Donation Saves Lives

Baylor All Saints offers transplant services for people in need of a new liver, kidney, pancreas or kidney/pancreas.

In affiliation with the Baylor Regional Transplant Institute, Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth offers transplant services for people in need of a new liver, kidney, pancreas or kidney/ pancreas. The hospital has performed more than 225 transplants since the Fort Worth program opened in 2002.

When Traci Sanders was born at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in 1995, no one could have foreseen the events that would take place nine years later. At age 9, Traci died from an asthma attack, and her mother, Lynn Sanders, made the decision to donate her organs, a generous gesture in the face of tragedy.

Faye Harris, 52, had been waiting for a kidney transplant since her own kidneys failed in 1998. For six years, she had undergone a grueling regimen of kidney dialysis three days a week. But she never gave up hope.

On March 1, 2004, Faye received a kidney transplant at Baylor All Saints, made possible with the donation of Traci's kidney. Overwhelmed with gratitude at the family's "gift," she wrote a letter and poem of appreciation to the Sanders family. Touched, Lynn decided to meet Faye in person, so Baylor All Saints and LifeGift Organ Donation Center of Fort Worth made the arrangements. They met on July 20, 2005, Lynn's birthday.

What would you do when you met the person who received your loved one's "gift of life"?

"The door opened and Lynn flew into my arms," Faye says. "I was wearing a T-shirt that said, 'Traci Lives On In Me.' After that, we kind of fell in love with each other. There's a special closeness we share. The Lord has placed her in my life."

Since then, the families have stayed in touch. Faye is now working with the Southwest Transplant Alliance in Dallas, and speaks with groups about the importance of organ donation. "I tell people all the time, 'Look what happened to me.' Organ donation saves lives."

By Janan Talafer