CHESAPEAKE, Va. — In the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake, a family's journey underscores the profound impact of organ donation. Imagine relying on the death of another person to survive. For the Brown family, this stark reality became their lifeline.
Kelly Brown, a mother of four, recalls the moment they discovered their son, Matthew, had a serious heart defect while she was pregnant. “He was going to need multiple heart surgeries and possibly a heart transplant at some point,” she said. With three healthy children already, this diagnosis was unexpected.
After Matthew was born, he spent considerable time in the hospital, undergoing his first surgery at just three months old. “It’s hard watching him be in pain and go through all of that,” Kelly reflected. “I wish I could have gone through it for him.”
Because of the severity of Matthew’s condition, he was placed at the top of the transplant list. The average wait time for a child who needs a heart transplant is about six months, but doctors expressed uncertainty about whether he would survive long enough for the surgery.
“He was so sick that while he was waiting for a transplant, he was being kept alive by a machine, a pump that was pumping blood through his body for him,” Kelly explained. “He was very close to death by the time he got the transplant.”
The only chance for Matthew's survival was a heart from another child. “It was mixed emotions because we knew that the only way for Matthew to live was for another child to die,” Kelly said.
In a tragic turn of fate, a lifeline emerged from Tennessee. "His heart came from a boy named Braiden who was eight years old. Braiden drowned while his family was snorkeling at a lake,” Kelly shared. “He wasn’t a strong swimmer and took in too much water.”
Now, at 16, Matthew carries the heart of Braiden. “I do feel close to him. He’s right here all the time,” he said.
April is Donate Life Month, a time to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. Since Matthew’s transplant, Kelly has become an advocate forLifeNet Health, an organization that facilitates organ transplants in Virginia.
However, she emphasizes the complexities of organ donation. “You have to die in a hospital, be on a ventilator, and be declared brain dead. About 2 percent of the population meets all three criteria when they die,” she explained. Additionally, there must be a compatible blood and tissue type, as well as the right size for the recipient.
Kelly Brown signed up to be an organ donor at a young age, never realizing how personal this cause would become to her family years later. “To make someone a miracle,” she said, encapsulating the essence of organ donation.
