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A Purpose in Life - and Death
Priscilla Linghor and a circle of family and friends stood before MeritCare Hospital shielding their eyes from the late-afternoon sun. In silence they watched the "Donate Life" flag rise slowly to the top of the pole then wave in the summer breeze.
Fargo was not where Priscilla expected to be on this Tuesday, Aug. 11. She and her husband, Tim, should have been home in Williston, N.D., enjoying a week with their grandson. Instead, Tim was the person honored in the "Donate Life" flag ceremony.
"'Purpose' was the word my son used," says Priscilla. "Seeing that flag go up gave purpose to our loss."
Tragedy on I-29
The devastating crash happened only two days earlier. The Linghors were on their way home from Omaha, Neb., Tim riding his white Harley Davidson, Priscilla and grandson in the pickup.
"We'd had a wonderful week," recalls Priscilla. "Tim and I had been in Sturgis (S.D.) for the motorcycle rally, then to Omaha for our daughter's wedding. It was such a joyful celebration with all the family together."
Midmorning they stopped at a gas station in Watertown, S.D. Tired from the busy week, Priscilla decided to rest before continuing. Tim said he was doing okay and wanted to go on ahead.
An hour north of Watertown, everything changed. Priscilla came upon a scene where several people stood by the road looking in the ditch.
Then she saw the white bike.
By the time she turned around and drove back, the ambulance had arrived. "Tim was unconscious. I just knew he wasn't going to make it," says Priscilla, a hospital nurse. The ambulance transported Tim to Sisseton, S.D., then an air ambulance flew him to MeritCare in Fargo.
"While Tim was in the ER, Peggy Hill (MeritCare house administrator on duty that weekend) came out and talked to us right away. She was wonderful – a key part of a team working together to get us through a very difficult time," says Priscilla.
Tim transferred to MeritCare's intensive care unit where extensive medical tests showed no brain function. The team expanded to include LifeSource, the organization that coordinates organ donation in the Upper Midwest.
A decision that saved others
"Tim had always said that if something happened to him, he wanted to be a donor," Priscilla says. "He'd put it on his driver's license so there were no doubts."
Married to Tim for 30 years, she wasn't surprised by his decision. "He was such a special guy – very, very giving. He just loved helping people," says Priscilla though tears.
As an organ donor, Tim kept giving. His heart, liver, kidneys and tissue went to critically ill patients who'd been on a national waiting list. Scores of people received help. One donor can save or enhance up to 60 lives.
Today, just six weeks after her husband's death, Priscilla is comforted by letters she's received from LifeSource. They tell of individuals who have benefited from Tim's gift – people now blessed with renewed health and hope.
"It's such a good feeling to know the difference Tim made," says Priscilla. "Organ donation helped us bring good out of tragedy. Tim is still out there helping people."
The great need
More than 100,000 men, women and children in the United States wait for a lifesaving organ transplant, including 2,600 in the Upper Midwest. Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national waiting list, and each day 18 people die while waiting for a transplant.
MeritCare and hospitals across the country share in the lifesaving mission of organ donation. For five consecutive years MeritCare has received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medal of Honor for Organ Donation.
Have you considered designating yourself as an organ donor? If you'd like to learn more, visit life-source.org or call LifeSource at (651) 603-7800.
Posted Date: November 2009
