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By Tim Wood
Originally published in the Columbia Daily Herald, Oct. 2, 1998
If you're looking for someone who has made good come out of tragedy, you would not need to look any further than Tom Meredith.
While many proponents of organ donation are transplant recipients or people in need of such transplants, Meredith represents a different side of the issue.
Meredith, a Nashville businessman, promoted a Rotary International program to encourage organ donation in a speech at the Thursday meeting of the Columbia Rotary Club. His presentation was persuasive enough to immediately convince 32 Rotarians to fill in organ donor forms and for many others to take forms with them.
His presentation is based on personal tragedy, yet reflects how a person can make good come out of such tragedy.
Meredith's oldest son, Tom, was dating a transplant coordinating nurse and was preparing to start a job as a Baltimore Orioles sportscaster when he died in an auto accident. The nurse had persuaded the family of the importance of organ donation, so the decision was made to donate his organs.
Their other son, Dave, had graduated from Middle Tennessee State University and had been hired as a high school coach when he died in a car wreck three months after Tom. They decided to donate his organs and tissue as well. A total of 97 people benefited from organs and tissues that came from their two sons.
But that wasn't the end to their experiences with organ donation. Barbara Meredith's kidneys had been attacked by lupus disease, and she went on a waiting list for a transplant. When she went on dialysis, she and Tom Meredith dedicated themselves to spreading the word about organ donation.
After a 25-month wait, Barbara Meredith received a transplant. But the months of dialysis treatment had taken their toll, and the transplant was not successful. She died Oct. 10, 1997.
But despite having lost both of his sons and his wife, Tom Meredith nonetheless decided to continue to promote organ donor awareness.
With 61,000 people on waiting lists for organs but only 5,000 people a year donating, Meredith believes there's a need for such awareness. His mission received a boost when he met Boyd D. Fulton, an active Rotarian who started the "Share Your Life - Give of Yourself" program.
Meredith met Fulton after speaking at a Rotary Club. Fulton persuaded Meredith to become a Rotarian, and since then, Meredith has taken his message to Rotary Clubs as well as others. He is president of the Music City TRIO (Transplant Recipients International Organization, Inc.) and is a past member of the national TRIO board. He also was nominated by U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., for the 1997 Presidents Service Award (Points of Light Volunteer Program).
The Rotary program distributes donor information forms, which may be filled out and sent to The Living Bank in Houston, Texas, which keeps the form on file and sends a donor card back. The form and donor card are legal documents in all 50 states under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and similar laws.
Tennessee and Pennsylvania have laws that clarify the "irrevocability" of a signed donor card. Meredith said that only one of every 20 people who sign a card and later die actually become organ donors.
Reasons for this vary, but in many cases, the wishes of family members overrule a signed donor card. Meredith said that under the Tennessee law, physicians have the discretion to allow the organ donation even if family members object. However, he said, most physicians will use their best judgment.
If a close family member such as a spouse or sibling objects to the organ donation, the physician likely will honor their wishes, he said. However, in some cases distant relatives who do not have strong ties to the deceased have blocked organ donations, Meredith said. The Tennessee law helps ensure that the wish of the deceased is carried out in those cases.
If the deceased has not signed a donor card or form, the immediate family may permit organ donation. Parents of children under 18 may permit their child's organs to be donated.
The Tennessee law was named after William J. Warner, a past president of the Green Hills Rotary Club of Nashville and a member of its Organ and Tissue Donor Committee. He died tragically in 1996, but through the donation of his organs, three individuals' lives were saved.
The "Share Your Life" program is dedicated to Warner's memory and is now backed by six Rotary districts. It also is becoming an international program.
The need continues, according to Meredith. In 1996, 5,420 people who died in the United States had donated organs. The number for 1997 was 5,429, an increase of just nine people nationwide.
"Donors help people walk again, see again, and live again," Meredith said.
Organ donation criteria
The following information about organ donation was provided by Rotary International:
* Age criteria - there is no set age for organ donation. The oldest donor on record was 103 at time of death. For tissue donors, the age range is birth to age 75.
* How are recipients matched to donor organs? Persons waiting for transplants are listed with the transplant center where they plan to have surgery, as well as with the organ procurement organization (OPO) affiliated with their transplant center. They also are included on a national computerized waiting list. In general, preference is given to recipients from the same geographic area because timing can be critical in the organ procurement process. Also, medical compatibility is considered, including factors such as blood type, weight, age, urgency of need and time on the waiting list.
*Why should minorities be particularly concerned? Minorities suffer end-stage renal disease, a serious life-threatening kidney disease, much more frequently than whites. As with any transplantation, it is important to ensure a close match between donor and recipient, and members of racial and ethnic groups are usually more compatible with those of the same racial or ethnic group. Therefore, it is important to increase the minority donor pool so that good matches can be made as frequently as possible for minority patients.
* Does donation disfigure the body? No. After donation, there will be no noticeable differences that would, by themselves, prevent an open casket funeral.
*Does donation delay funeral services? No. Donation must be done within a few hours of the family giving consent. After donation is completed, the body is immediately released to funeral home and visitation plans can proceed.
* Does my religion support organ donation? Probably. Most major organized religions are supportive. To be sure, you should discuss it with your spiritual leader.
* Do people make money selling organs? No. It is a federal crime to sell organs in the United States.
* Does organ donation increase medical costs for the donating family? No. All costs related to the donation are paid by the donor program or transplant center. However, the family is still responsible for hospital expenses that were incurred trying to save the donor's life as well as funeral expenses.
For more information about organ donation, contact the Tennessee Donor Services office at 1-800-969-GIFT in Nashville.
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