BOY'S ORGANS HELP SAVE LIVES OF FIVE

Michael and Rachel Sweet were deeply moved Friday when they learned their decision to follow the path their son paved through acts of kindness saved five lives.

"We didn't know if donating Mikey's organs was the right thing to do," Michael Sweet said. "But after getting this letter from Mid-America Transplant Services, we know it's what Mikey would have wanted. He was always trying to help people."

Michael Dennis Sweet, 13, died March 10 of HIB meningitis at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

Although they could do nothing to bring back their child, the Cape Girardeau family decided to try to help save the lives of others by donating Michael's body. Five organs from his body helped save or improve the lives of recipients living in St. Louis, Kansas City and Oklahoma.

Margit Bilgram, organ procurement coordinator with Mid-America Transplant Services said:

"The right kidney was transplanted into a 59-year-old father who lives in St. Louis. This gentleman is out of the ICU (intensive care unit) and doing very well. The left kidney was transplanted into a 27-year-old man who is also from St. Louis. He, too, is out of the ICU and looks forward to going home soon."

Bilgram said, "The liver was transplanted into a 52-year-old man from St. Louis. This father of four was in the ICU prior to his transplant and not doing well. He is currently doing much better and we have high hopes for a complete recovery. The lungs were transplanted into a 14-year-old boy from Kansas City. This student, who has a baby-sister and one brother was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at an early age. His survival was dependent on finding new lungs."

And, "the heart was transplanted into a 17-year-old teen from Oklahoma. This student was also in the ICU today and is doing very well. All of these patients as well as their families will be forever grateful for your extraordinary act of compassion."

Michael Sweet was so moved by the letter that arrived Friday he said he plans to frame it and hang it where his wife, Rachel, and Michael's three sisters can see it.

"Mikey was always trying to help people," he said. "We bawled him out one time because he wanted to take a family's clothes to our house to be washed. He said they couldn't afford a washing machine and needed our help."

At the time, he added, "we told Mikey he couldn't keep doing this. After what has happened, it makes me feel proud that it was in his heart to help others less fortunate than him. His last gift was the greatest."

Barry Freedman, spokesman for the Mid-America Transplant Services, said Michael Sweet's story isn't one he hears often enough.

"I wish we could help that many people through one donor every day," he said. "The decision to donate an organ is the one positive feeling a family is left with after a negative experience."

Both St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Hospital work with Mid-America Transplant Services to coordinate organ donations.

"About 25 percent of organs Mid-America receives come from the Cape Girardeau area," the St. Francis Medical Center clinical nurse and coordinator for organ donors, Cheri Huckstep Reed, said.

Anyone interested in donating their body or a particular organ should discuss this with their family.

"You can fill out the back of your driver's license or an organ donor card, but a family can override that if they so desire," Freedman said.

"That's why it is so important to make sure your family knows your wishes ahead of time," she said.

The decision to donate a body or organ is usually necessary within hours of a death.

"We will not accept any organ, tissue or eye unless we have the consent of the family," Freedman said.

There is an all-time high of 786 on the local transplant waiting list. Nationally nearly 38,000 are on waiting lists.

There are six transplant centers in the Mid-America Transplant Service region: St. Louis University Medical Center, Washington University Medical Center, DePaul Health Center, St. Louis Children's Hospital, Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital and St. John's Mercy Medical Center.