SIH Herrin Hospital recognized for organ and tissue donation
ST. LOUIS - Mid-America Transplant awarded SIH Herrin Hospital with the Gift of Life donor medal for its commitment to organ and tissue donation. Thanks to the partnership of SIH Herrin and 121 other hospitals throughout southern Illinois, eastern Missouri and northeast Arkansas, Mid-America Transplant achieved a record-breaking year for donations. In total, 278 organ donors and 2,424 tissue donors in the region provided lifesaving gifts in 2020.
"We are inspired by the clinical team at SIH Herrin Hospital, which has paved the way to make more transplants possible," said Diane Brockmeier, President and CEO at Mid-America Transplant. "We know that donation brings peace to families and enables recipients to live happy, healthy lives. That healing starts when hospital staff, like those at SIH Herrin Hospital, do everything they can to make donation possible."
Every single donor makes a difference. The two most recent organ donors from SIH Herrin Hospital were able to save the lives of three people - two of which are from Illinois. In addition, over 1,800 lives are impacted through the gifts from 25 tissue donors over the past two years.
"When the medical team has done everything they can to preserve life, the patient does one more thing by organ donation," said SIH Vice President and Administrator of SIH Herrin Hospital Rodney Smith.
One of those donations came from Jessica Cantrell. In August 2008, the Southern Illinois University Carbondale senior suffered a traumatic brain injury following a motorcycle crash. In November 2019, eleven years after the accident, Jessica passed away at SIH Herrin Hospital. An organ donor, Jessica's family fulfilled her wishes.
"We just want to encourage people not to give up during that process, to move forward with it and keep pushing forward. It's so worth it to be able to give the gift of life to other people," said Jana Cantrell, Jessica's big sister. "It's amazing that after being permanently disabled for 11 years, surgeons were able to salvage Jessica's kidneys, which saved two lives. Something good came from her death, which gives our family great comfort."
The Gift of Life donor medal was awarded during a small ceremony, which included members of the Cantrell family, friends, members of Jessica Cantrell's care team and Brenda Dreyer, a Marion, Illinois, resident who received a kidney transplant in 2006.
"As a transplant recipient, I am thankful to live where there is a hospital that is so focused on making the gift of life possible," said Dreyer. "The doctors and nurses at SIH Herrin are the shining stars of excellence and care, and their commitment is making organ donation successful for more patients in Southern Illinois."
Nearly 4,000 people in Illinois are currently on the organ transplant list, and countless more need tissues and corneas to improve their quality of life or recover from surgeries. It takes just a few minutes to make the heroic decision to register to be a donor. Learn more at midamericatransplant.org/register.