Scott passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on December 21, 2015. I was unaware of his intention to be an organ donor until approached by the Mid-America Transplant representative. When we heard he had indicated his wish to donate, there was no question in our minds that we should carry out his wish. He was able to donate his corneas, tissue and bone. We would have wanted to be able to donate more, but there were extenuating circumstances that did not allow this to happen. Scott was my husband, father to our three sons and grandfather to our six grandsons. He was also a loved father-in-law, son, son-in-law, nephew, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, cousin, and dear friend. He worked for 34 years for BJC (Barnes-Jewish Hospital) where he and I met. Scott adored his sons (Daniel, Stuart, Michael) and his grandsons, and had a great relationship with our 2 daughter-in-laws (Lindsay and Brittany). Our day started out as any other, with the added surprise of our son and his family arriving two days early to spend the holidays with us. You see, our son had been deployed and lived in North Carolina and we had not seen him in-person since he'd left in June. After dinner, Scott fell down a flight of steps and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. He was not breathing and our son performed CPR and got him breathing again. He was taken to our local hospital and flown to St. Louis where subsequent tests. The following day revealed he would not be coming home, but because of his desire to be an organ donor, he would be helping others. Scott had been a smoker, so his lungs were not able to be used and his heart exhibited damage from an apparent heart attack. Due to Scott’s selfless act, I and many of our family members and friends have become registered organ donors. There is not a day that goes by that we do not have our wristbands on. We are extremely proud of Scott and not a day goes by that he is not missed. Since he has passed, we have welcomed 2 more grandsons! I know he is watching over us all!
