SEMO, Mid-America Transplant honor organ donors with memorial at River Campus

The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge serves as a backdrop to the newly installed memorial on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus that celebrates organ donors.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semissourian.com

Southeast Missouri State University, in partnership with Mid-America Transplant, hosted the families of organ and tissue donors and transplant recipients Thursday, April 25, for the unveiling of a new memorial at the university’s River Campus.

The sculpture, designed and sculpted by Missouri native Don Wiegand, features a boy holding up a candle on one side and a silhouette of multiple people holding candles on the other in honor of organ donors. The piece was inspired by a candlelight vigil Wiegand attended in 2004 when donor families gathered in St. Louis to honor loved ones and their organ recipients.

“(Wiegand) has artwork in the Smithsonian, in the White House and at the Vatican,” Mid-America Transplant CEO Kevin Lee said, “and since that is the only campus in the State of Missouri dedicated to the performing arts, it seemed a great fit to have a celebrated sculptor from Missouri have a piece of artwork there.”

The backside of the organ donor memorial on Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus features a silhouette of a group of people holding candles in remembrance of organ donors.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semissourian.com

Among those in attendance were former SEMO soccer player and donor Meg Herndon’s mother, Cindy Herndon, Cape Girardeau donor Madeline Flieg’s mother, Joan Flieg, Benton donor Kaden Robert’s parents, Aaron and Rhonda Robert and kidney transplant recipient Missouri Department of Revenue director Wayne Wallingford. In addition, the SEMO women’s soccer team and dozens who traveled from across Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois were also present. A candlelight vigil was held following the unveiling.

“Families from across Southern Missouri and Southern Illinois drove to that unveiling,” Lee said. “I had an opportunity to visit with a donor mom who lives in Illinois but drove over an hour to be there for that unveiling. That’s really what we were hopeful for, is that it would be representation for all those families and provide them with a moment of comfort during their grief journey.”

Mid-America began searching for a location to install an art piece celebrating donors in 2018, and discussions with SEMO began in 2020. The project was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the two entities began moving forward with planning in 2021 and broke ground at the River Campus last April. According to Lee, Wiegand finished the piece just two days before it was unveiled.

Lee said the site will serve as a location for future ceremonies similar to last week’s. He hopes to hold ceremonies each year in April, as it’s National Donate Life Month.

Lee also emphasized the importance of organ and tissue donation, noting that more than 100,000 United States citizens are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and donating can give a recipient “a second chance at life so they can live their best life.”

“It’s very important that we continue to honor and celebrate the legacies of these individuals while also encouraging people to join the organ tissue and eye donor registry,” Lee said. “... It saves and heals the life of the recipient, but it also impacts their extended family. It impacts mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles, teachers and law enforcement.

“It has this ability to really improve and enhance the lives of everybody who comes into contact with that recipient, and our team here at Mid-America Transplant notices and feels that grateful recipients are these beacons of positivity in our community. They go out and impact everybody that they come into contact with with that positivity, and it really enhances the lives of so many people.”