Raising a Flag to Raise Awareness  

Discussing organ donation is often perceived as taboo or morbid, and most people only think about it when they are at the DMV deciding whether to add that heart to their driver’s license. This topic warrants more consideration and thought than is often given, and it is for this reason coupled with the rise in demand for organ, eye and tissue donations that the month of April has been designated as Donate Life Month.  

Each year in April, health organizations throughout the country work to educate the public about organ donation, celebrate the life-giving power of organ transplantation and honor those who have donated, all while correcting misconceptions and encouraging people to sign up to be an organ donor.  

South Central Regional Medical Center, along with the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA), held a flag-raising ceremony. The ceremony took place in front of the SCRMC Emergency Department at the flagpole on Thursday, April 10, at 10 a.m.  

The ceremony included a brief explanation of what MORA does from the MORA Hospital Development Coordinator, Joel Stevens, and an update about SCRMC’s contribution to the need for organ, eye and tissue donation from, SCRMC’s Chief Nursing Officer, Sherry Brewer. To conclude the ceremony, two families shared personal testimonies about how organ donation has affected their family.

The Cooley family made the decision to donate their son, Damarius’, organs and tissues after he was fatally wounded at the age of 32.  

“My son passed away in February of 2024, and I made the decision to make him an organ donor,” said Sabrina Cooley. “I did it to save lives. To give a person a second chance at life.”   

The McGill family lost their beloved daughter and sister, Angelica, almost 14 years ago and attended this flag-raising ceremony to honor her on what would have been her 28th birthday.  

“It has been almost 14 years since we made the decision to donate Angelica’s organs and tissues,” said Angelica’s mother, Pam McGill. “We are very thankful and grateful to have been given the opportunity through MORA to be able to extend and enrich the lives of so many people.” 

“It’s just amazing that someone else is looking through her eyes and seeing the world,” said Angelica’s brother, Dustin McGill. “Her heart is still beating inside someone else. Isn’t it amazing how powerful and mighty our God is to be able to take organs from somebody else and put it into another person and it be functioning. That alone is beyond my understanding.”  

This event is meant to motivate those in attendance to educate themselves and others on the importance of organ donation, which has never been more dire. According to MORA’s website there are over 100,000 Americans in need of a transplant and, “in Mississippi, there are more than 1,300 people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant.”   

All of humanity is innately aware of our fallibility, and most people are looking for ways to better the world we live in. Organ donation serves as a way of fulfilling that desire even when you leave this world.  

To learn more about organ donation visit msora.org. To register online you can visit registerme.org. Mississippians can also register when obtaining or renewing their driver’s license with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety or their hunting and/or fishing license with Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.