2019 Christopher Vieth

Name:                                     Christopher Vieth

Type of Donation:             Organ, cornea and tissue donor

Age and Location:             Age 19 – St. Louis, MO

Donation Date:                   10/7/1990

Sponsor:                                Honored by Mid-America Transplant

CHRISTOPHER’S STORY

In October of 1990, our oldest son Christopher was a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis.  On a Friday afternoon in October, he was crossing the street in front of the university to ride his bike through Forest Park when he was hit by a car.  When we located him in Barnes Hospital the next morning, the ICU physician gently explained to us that Christopher had suffered severe head trauma and would not recover.  How long he would survive was unsure, but he would not live. We spent the rest of the day in the ICU with our other four children, waiting for updates from the doctor.

The following day we arrived at the ICU early in the morning and were met by a representative of Mid-America Transplant. He explained that Christopher had probably suffered brain death during the night and that tests were being done to verify that. He had been with Christopher all night and wanted to ask us if we would consider organ donation. Our first consideration was whether or not it was a moral thing to do. In a world in which there is much controversy over some medical procedures, we as Catholics wanted to know what our church taught about transplantation. He assured us that the Catholic Church encouraged donation, as did all major Christian denominations. We did consent to the donation and then waited for confirmation of brain death.

Christopher was officially declared dead around 11:30 am that Sunday morning of October 7, 1990. Altogether we were able to donate his heart, liver, two kidneys, two corneas and bone tissue.

Two days later we were approached at the funeral parlor by a physician friend, who told us that his colleague’s patient had received Christopher’s heart.  He was thanking us for our gift, and we cried tears of joy that someone now was alive because of our gift.

Some people think they could never consider donation, but when a family is face-to-face with life and death, there is value in knowing that organ donation can save another family from losing their loved one.