Family Of Organ Donor Meets Woman Saved By Donation
NEW JERSEY (CBSNewYork) -- The family of a woman killed in an accident on the New Jersey Turnpike had the chance to meet one of three people who were given a second chance at life through her death.
As CBS 2's Dr. Max Gomez reported Wednesday, Jackie Lue-Raia's mother was able to save the lives of three others through organ donation.
"This was actually a family reunion because I do have a part of Jackie's mother living inside of me," said Gwendolyn Anderson.
Anderson received a kidney from Lue-Raia's mother.
"She was an organ donor and tissue donor back in January of 2010 and she gave the gift here at University Hospital," Lue-Raia said of her mother.
Organ donations are usually anonymous, but when Jackie decided to donate her mother's organs she asked if the family could meet one of the three people whose lives were saved by her mother's organs, Gomez reported. That's how the Lue-Raia family met Anderson.
The trauma surgeon who cared for both Jackie and her mother at University Hospital in Newark said organ donation could save many more lives like Gwen's.
"There's someone who dies every few minutes nationally on the waiting list. There's over 5,000 people in New Jersey alone that are waiting for life-saving organs and there's just a shortage of donors," Dr. Devashish Anjaria said.
Anyone can help save a life with the gift of organ donation. Just ask for an organ donation card or sign your driver's license to register your wishes.
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