Organ donation is a life-saving gift for many [The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.]

Jan. 08--SAUCIER -- Owen and April Beaver hope to someday meet the people who received the gift of life after having organ transplants from their 16-year-old son.

Someone has Caleb's lungs, which he used with gusto to sing in a Christian band, worship at his church and to yell out and run as a soccer player for Harrison Central High.

Other strangers received his heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas and even his skin tissue in the fast-paced process of organ recovery, delivery and transplant surgery.

Caleb had an aneurysm or similar episode the day before Christmas Eve. He suffered two strokes; the second left him brain dead. His parents had never discussed organ donations, but made the decision after he was placed on life support at a Memphis hospital. His organs were removed and the ventilator was turned off Christmas Day.

His parents are dealing with what some consider the hardest grief of all -- the loss of a child. But even through their tears, the couple said Caleb's gifts of life honor his memory and the ordeal has not shaken their faith.

They have been overwhelmed by an outpouring of concern fueled by the social media and a Sun Herald news report. They've been contacted by people across the United States and as far away as Israel. They've received money from people they don't know. Others have planned fundraisers to help them.

They've heard from people who said they want the Beavers' kind of faith, and from people who were just as surprised to learn of the dire need for organ donors.

Dire need for organs

At any time, more than 112,000 men, women and children are waiting for life-saving organ transplants. More than 96,000 are waiting for a kidney.

A new name is added to the list every 12 minutes, but each day, an average of 18 people die because the organ they need isn't available, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"I have no regrets at all (about the organ donation)," April Beaver said. "Caleb was such a caring, giving person. He would be so touched to know his organs saved six lives."

Caleb had played soccer, tennis and football at Harrison Central the previous school year. His focus this school year was soccer, the youth band at Northwood Church in Gulfport and dreaming his dreams of becoming a college soccer player and a pediatrician.

He wanted to be a pediatrician because it saddened him to see sick children. Relatives said he wanted to be a part of the healing process.

He was in the 10th grade and had two brothers, Jacob, 13, and Owen Jr., 9. He also was a songwriter and played several musical instruments.

His father is a terminal manager for a coal plant in Port Bienville. His mother is a substitute teacher who once home-schooled her children.

The family had been visiting relatives for Christmas in Arkansas when Caleb fell ill while getting out of the shower. "He cried, 'God, help me,'" they recalled.

Strokes put him in a coma. He was airlifted to Memphis, where his parents were told he was brain dead. They thought about donating his heart to a local football coach whose wife needs a heart transplant, but the woman was not a match.

"It would have meant so much to Caleb," April Beaver said.

A ripple effect

When the family left the hospital, they had no idea word of Caleb's death had spread. Friends arranged a vigil to greet them as they approached their home. About 200 people, including strangers, stood on the roadside in a candlelight vigil in drizzling rain and sang "Amazing Grace" as the family drove by.

Once home, his mother was unpacking Caleb's bag when she found a notebook. He had written a song about facing dark times, in which he repeated the words, "I will rescue you." His family believes God gave him the song to help prepare him for his death and to comfort them in their loss.

The song was read at his funeral New Year's Eve. About 2,000 people attended his visitation the previous night. Some 5,600 people signed a guest book over the two-day period.

The parents have heard from many people who, through personal contact or Facebook posts, said Caleb's legacy has drawn them to God or renewed their faith.

A Sun Herald reader posted this online response to a news story: "It is stories like these that make me, a non-believer, fervently hope that I am wrong."

The family received moral support Thursday night at the soccer game for Caleb's team. The team retired his No. 5 jersey, and presented it to his mother.

Friday was another emotional day. The parents learned Caleb's heart went to a doctor in Kentucky. His liver went to a 24-year-old Memphis woman who will soon return to work.

A Facebook page set up in his memory had 1,650 friends by Friday morning.

The family has medical insurance but believes their share will be exorbitant. They had no life insurance on Caleb.

A benefit bank account is set up in his name at Hancock Bank. Several fundraisers are planned, including T-shirt sales, jewelry sales and an auction in March at Harrison Central.

Organ-recovery costs are not billed to the donor's family.

How to meet recipients

Caleb's parents said they are eager to find out more about the people whose lives were saved.

Organ-recovery regulations allow a donor's family, at first, to learn only basic information, such as the recipient's age, gender and occupation. Over time, a family-service coordinator can arrange direct contact or a meeting if the recipient agrees.

Not all survivors of donors want to meet the recipients, said Tina Burtt of the South Mississippi Office of the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency.

"It's hard for some people to meet the person who has their loved one's organ because it starts that journey of grief all over again," she said.

MORA recovered 242 organs for transplants last year from 71 donors, plus tissue from 121 donors. Burtt said Mississippi's waiting list has more than 1,100 names of residents who have been approved for transplant. Most of them need kidneys.

In Mississippi, donors must agree to donate all viable organs and tissue.

In Tennessee, where Caleb died, donors can select what they want to donate, April Beaver said.

"We agreed to give everything except his eyes," April Beaver said. "I just couldn't bear the thought of them taking his beautiful, baby-blue eyes."

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