April is Donate Life Month…and The Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital is teaming up with a regional organization to urge residents to consider becoming organ donors. The hospital says nearly 350 people are waiting for kidney transplants. A mother from Rome recently came to the hospital to share her personal story. Gina Richardson’s son Ty’Sean Richardson was tragically killed in 2020 while walking on his way home from work.
“Ty’Sean made me the strong woman I am today and the reason I can stand before you and talk is because this is what he would want me to do. My son always wanted to be a super hero.
Richardson adds that’s why she thought donating her son’s organs was the right thing to do.
“Why not carry on your family member through other people’s lives. You know, they still live on, they still have a legacy, they’re still out there. My son still has seven organs still here. It may not be him, it may not be that beautiful face but, his heart, his lungs, his kidneys, his liver, his pancreas, his eyes, his tissue lives on through other people.”
Just before the procedure took place, to retrieve Ty’Sean’s organs, his mother asked for his super-hero cape. Now, other families going through the same donor process receive his cape for their loved one.
“He’s wrapping his arms around every one of those people and saying thank you and… he would totally do that.”
One of the first people families speak with at the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network is Bill Sainsbury. He says people can indicate as young as 16 they wish to be organ donors.
“… And in Ty’Sean’s case, he didn’t indicate on his license that he wanted to be a donor but, Gina said just by knowing Ty’Sean, from knowing the type of person that he was, this was one of the easiest decisions that she had to make.”
To find out more about organ donation, you can visit the Finger Lakes Donor Recovery Network website.
