One issue that continues to divide people is organ donation. Would you agree to make your organs available to others in the event of your brain death? Even if most of them are positive about such a donation, many shy away from recording this on an ID card and carrying it with them.
Here are emotional stories that really inspire you. (Scroll down to the article.)
But what if that little act could save a little child’s life?
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Adalynn Grace Rogers from Arlington, Kentucky (USA) was born in January 2016 with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The news of this dangerous malformation not only of the heart but also of the connected main artery was a serious shock for the parents Justin and Kristi.
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Adalynn was operated on when she was only 2 days old and after 2 anxious months in intensive care, her family was finally allowed to take her home with them. The little girl still had to be fed through a tube, but she didn’t let that spoil her joy of life.
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She was a jolly, happy little person who was looked after by her parents and adored by her brothers. She played and laughed like any other child and did well.
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The family was happy and optimistic until their lives were dealt a terrible blow in November 2017. Without warning, Adalynn’s heart suddenly gave out. The doctors had to explain to the parents that their daughter urgently needed a heart transplant. But there was no donor heart for her, and after an excruciating month, the girl had to be implanted with a mechanical pump to help her heart beat.
Adalynn’s parents waited anxiously and hopefully that there might be a heart for their daughter. But all her hopes were dashed when the girl suddenly started bleeding inside in January 2018. Adalynn’s lungs filled with blood and her brain was not supplied with oxygen for several minutes before she was finally resuscitated.
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The consequences were terrible: Adalynn had suffered severe brain damage and was no longer eligible for a donor heart. Kristin and Justin knew this was a death sentence for their daughter. She was only kept alive by machines with no chance of ever recovering. On the contrary, sooner or later her tormented heart would finally fail.
Adalynn’s parents knew there was only one thing left to do for their daughter: to let her go.
In the middle of this difficult time, the photographer Suha Dabit approached the parents. She heads the organization “World of Broken Hearts”, which tries to raise awareness of serious congenital heart diseases. Suha has a daughter with heart disease, whose life was saved by a donated organ.
Kristin and Justin listened to Suha’s request and agreed. They allowed her to come to their hospital on January 26, 2018 and take pictures of the worst moment of her life. There Adalynn’s parents and brothers said goodbye to her and tearfully switched off the machines. Adalynn died just hours later. She was only 2 years old.
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The photos are heartbreaking. In the following compilation they appear as the last pictures in a series of photos from Adalynn’s life:
Suha, Justin and Kristin hope the pictures will shake many people awake and draw more attention to how urgently donor organs are needed each day and how much suffering they can prevent.
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Hopefully her pain can at least save another child from what her daughter had to go through.
Thumbnail: © Youtube / Memory of Angels