WILL'S LEGACY: PARENTS MAKE CHOICE TO DONATE TOT'S ORGANS

Perhaps John Ueleke of Memphis best described his grandson: "He had small feet but he made big footprints."

William "Will" Fischer seemed like any normal 2-year-old. He was a helping child and loved to give hugs. Illnesses seemed limited to ear infections.

But just days before Christmas, the only child of Mindy and Terry Fischer suffered two massive strokes and died. Doctors can't really explain why.

For the Fischers and their family, the only way they could make sense of the nightmare was to donate Will's organs.

"My husband and I had always said we wanted to be organ donors," said Mindy Fischer Friday from her home in Germantown, a suburb of Memphis. "We just never thought about our child. But this seemed the only way to find something good out of this."

A 12-year-old boy in Pittsburgh, born with a defective liver, received Will's liver. A 29-year-old man in Memphis, who has lived on dialysis for the past 11 years, received his kidneys. Two adult women now see thanks to Will's corneas. And sometime in the coming months, three children will each receive a valve from Will's heart.

Both of Will's great-grandmothers, Helen Ueleke and Lillian Ritter, live in Cape Girardeau, along with a number of other relatives.

Ueleke described Will as a perfectly healthy, beautiful child. "It's hard to believe that one day you have a well child and suddenly he's gone," she said of her only great-grandchild.

"To think this little boy helped seven people," Ueleke said, has given the family some solace.

But it's no surprise to his family, who had been helped by this little boy from his birth. Ueleke's son, John, discovered cancer had returned to his body on the same day Mindy found out she was pregnant.

"They called this baby their hope," said Helen Ueleke. And on the day Will was born, "My son found out he didn't have to have any more chemotherapy."

When tests were performed to see if Will could donate his organs, Helen Ueleke was among the large gathering of family at the hospital. "There were maybe 10 of us in there at one time, talking to him, singing and praying. It was a very moving thing," she said. And when the time came, everyone said their good-byes.

On Thursday, Dec. 16, Will was happy and healthy. He got sick and had a mild seizure. Doctors thought he had the flu. By Saturday, he was in the hospital emergency room and stopped breathing. Tests revealed he had had two massive strokes and would not survive.

The possibility of organ donation was raised by the Fischers.

It was especially hard to wait for the two tests to determine brain death, his mother said. The tests are taken 12 hours apart. These and other tests determined that Will was a candidate for organ donation.

"He was always such a helping child," said Mindy. "My husband always called him his little helper. We knew there were other children out there who would die if he didn't give his organs. We knew he would want to help those children."

The Fischers also thought about a friend whose 3-year-old is waiting for a kidney transplant.

"I find more comfort in it now than I did at the time," she said.

Mindy feels that someday she and her husband would like to meet some of the people who benefited from Will's gift.

"It was particularly moving that a 29-year-old who had been on dialysis for 11 years got Will's kidneys. My husband is 29 and we thought, it could have been us," she said.

Lonnie Boyd with the Mid-America Transplant Services praised the Fischers and other parents who choose donation when facing their child's death.

"On one hand, I can't stress the amount of sorrow they feel if they have lost a child," he said. "On the other hand, I think the donation will be one thing that can help them through the grief and sorrow."

In the U.S. about 67,000 people are waiting for vital organ transplants. About 13 people die every day because there aren't enough donations.

Boyd encourages people to sign the back of their driver's license indicating their donation wishes. But it's important to inform family members.

"Even if someone signs a donor card or indicates a donation on the back of their driver's license, we won't do it if the family says no," he said.

In this service region, Boyd estimates there are only 300 potential organ donors a year. That region covers the eastern half of Missouri, the southern part of Illinois and northeast Arkansas.

"It can't be a traditional death where the heart stops beating," he said. "There has to be an injury or insult that causes brain death, but the heart keeps beating."

Donation of organs from children are rare, he said. "A big part of it is just the shock of losing a child. You can hardly imagine anything else that carries more mental anguish," he said.

But those who see through the grief find a real legacy for their lost loved ones in organ donation, said Boyd.

As part of Will's final hours, the hospital provided copies of his handprints and footprints to family members. It was then John Ueleke remarked on Will's small feet and big footprints.

His words were repeated at a memorial service the Wednesday before Christmas that packed the church with nearly 500 people. They won't soon forget 2-year-old Will Fischer, his family and their legacy of helping others -- even in life's darkest moments.