Organ donation brings new life this Easter Sunday in Davidson
Charlotte Observer | Tim Funk
Gary and Lib look through the basket of cards and prayers that they received from friends and family members. Easter Sunday's promise of new life will have special meaning this year for the Rev. Lib McGregor Simmons and her husband, Gary. In January, he got a liver transplant. A month later, he was home, healthier than he's been since they diagnosed his genetic condition four years ago. "Gary is home!!!!" Lib, pastor of Davidson College Presbyterian Church, blogged to the online community that had rallied around the couple. The generosity of an organ donor not only gave Gary a second chance at life, it also caused Lib and Gary to commit themselves to promote greater awareness of organ donation in the years ahead. And on this Easter Sunday, Lib will speak from personal experience in her sermon on the joy of resurrection. T.Ortega Gaines - ogaines@charlotteobserver.com
DAVIDSON On this Sunday morning, when more than a billion Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, Easter’s promise of new life will have special meaning for the Rev. Lib McGregor Simmons and her 1,400-member congregation as they march into the sanctuary singing “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.â€
For Simmons, the bleakest moment of the year came on Jan. 20, as she conducted the funeral for a 97-year-old member of her flock at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.
“It’s very likely,†she told herself during the service, “that my husband’s funeral will be the next one.â€
Gary Simmons was only 63. But unless he got a new liver soon, he had only months, maybe weeks, to live.
He was at the top of the donor list at Carolinas Medical Center, but would he get one in time? Others had died waiting, or were taken off the list when they became too ill.
Continue reading
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
Gary and Lib look through the basket of cards and prayers that they received from friends and family members. Easter Sunday's promise of new life will have special meaning this year for the Rev. Lib McGregor Simmons and her husband, Gary. In January, he got a liver transplant. A month later, he was home, healthier than he's been since they diagnosed his genetic condition four years ago. "Gary is home!!!!" Lib, pastor of Davidson College Presbyterian Church, blogged to the online community that had rallied around the couple. The generosity of an organ donor not only gave Gary a second chance at life, it also caused Lib and Gary to commit themselves to promote greater awareness of organ donation in the years ahead. And on this Easter Sunday, Lib will speak from personal experience in her sermon on the joy of resurrection. T.Ortega Gaines - ogaines@charlotteobserver.com
DAVIDSON On this Sunday morning, when more than a billion Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, Easter’s promise of new life will have special meaning for the Rev. Lib McGregor Simmons and her 1,400-member congregation as they march into the sanctuary singing “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.â€
For Simmons, the bleakest moment of the year came on Jan. 20, as she conducted the funeral for a 97-year-old member of her flock at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.
“It’s very likely,†she told herself during the service, “that my husband’s funeral will be the next one.â€
Gary Simmons was only 63. But unless he got a new liver soon, he had only months, maybe weeks, to live.
He was at the top of the donor list at Carolinas Medical Center, but would he get one in time? Others had died waiting, or were taken off the list when they became too ill.
Continue reading
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
Comments
Post a Comment