In the summer of 2009, 18-year-old Dillon Egger of Durango died after a car accident on Wolf Creek Pass on his way home from Denver. That same week, a Grand Junction resident with failing health was moved to the top of the liver transplant list; he was given two months to live.
An unselfish decision made by Egger at age 16 saved three lives – including the Grand Junction man’s – in the aftermath of his tragic death. Two of his kidneys and a liver were donated to people in desperate need.
And it all started with a driver’s license and a little red heart.
In 2013, 71 percent of the 15,845 people who received or renewed their Colorado driver’s licenses at the Durango office said “yes” to becoming an organ donor. Statewide, that number was 67 percent. Statistics provided by the Donor Alliance, which facilitates the recovery and donation of organs and tissues in the state, show Colorado is one of the top states in the nation for organ donations.
Currently, 2,409 people in the Colorado-Wyoming region are awaiting an organ transplant, according to the Donor Alliance. Nationally, that number is 120,769.
If a Southwest Colorado resident needs a kidney, the closest transplant facilities are the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and Presbyterian Hospital, both in Albuquerque.
Other organ transplants may mean a trip to one of the four transplant centers in the Denver area: Children’s Hospital Colorado, Centura Porter Adventist Hospital, Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
In the case of Egger’s liver, the fortunate recipient was a Grand Junction man, Case, who declined to use his last name to preserve anonymity.
Several years before, in his late 30s, Case had been diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a disease of the bile ducts that causes inflammation and subsequent obstruction of the ducts. His doctor told him that in five to 20 years he would need a liver transplant. The progressive disease took its toll within six years. In April 2009, he went through an extensive evaluation and was placed on the Colorado-Wyoming transplant list.
Case said he understands the need for thorough screening.
“Somebody died to give you this organ. They aren’t going to waste it,” he said.
By July 2009, after another evaluation, his physician informed him he was first on the list. Case was told to expect a phone call that week. He received the call two days later on a Wednesday afternoon – the day Egger died – and Case reported for surgery that same night.
“This was one of the best days of my life, and we always knew it was going to be the saddest day of somebody’s life,” he said.
A week after surgery, Case wrote a letter to Debbie and Bob Egger, Dillon’s parents, thanking them for his second chance at life.
“Words cannot express how sorry we are for your loss. We want you to know that we are incredibly grateful and want to say thank you,” he wrote.
Communication between donor families and donor recipients is very limited and kept anonymous. All correspondence goes through the Donor Alliance, where letters are screened to black out any information that could potentially reveal the identity of either party. A family or recipient also can decline to receive information about the participants involved in the transplant process.
The Eggers, however, disclosed to the Donor Alliance that they would be willing to receive correspondence. Case heard back from the Eggers the next summer.
Decision to donate
Dillon Egger made the decision to become an organ donor upon receiving his driver’s license, following in his parents’ footsteps.
He suffered extensive injuries after his accident and was transported from Mercy Regional Medical Center to Swedish Medical Center in Denver in a medically induced coma, recounted his mother, Debbie Egger. Physicians told the Eggers that Dillon eventually would recover, but he took a turn for the worse: Because of a broken femur, he developed an embolism that eventually left him brain dead.
“He looked fine. I didn’t know why they couldn’t help him,” Debbie Egger said.
Shortly after, medical personnel informed the Eggers that their son was a registered organ donor and the Donor Alliance soon would be arriving to harvest the viable organs.
Debbie Egger said she had no intention of rejecting the organ donations, and because Dillon had turned 18, she would have been unable to decline even if she wanted to.
Egger recalls the Donor Alliance representatives as understanding and accommodating to her family.
“From the start of everything, the people that came in were incredible,” she said.
The family had two requests before taking Dillon off life support: to wait a day because July 28 is their daughter Shelby’s birthday; and not to harvest the bones because the family wanted something to bury, Bob Egger said.
“It was very painful losing my son, but it made us feel like we were doing good,” Debbie Egger said.
The alliance comforted the family with the knowledge that their son’s organs would be giving life to someone who hadn’t been able to live the life they deserved, she said.
Two years after the transplant procedure, the parties were ready to meet, and the Donor Alliance facilitated.
“It was pretty emotional. I think everyone was crying,” Debbie Egger said.
The families still keep in touch and often catch up at an annual event in Denver called the Donor Dash, a 5-kilometer run to honor the lives of organ and tissue donors.
Four-and-a-half years later, Case is thriving and in good health. He admitted that before needing an organ, he had not given much thought to donating his own organs. He is a donor now, and he talks to his stepchildren about the importance of being one.
Case is grateful every day for Dillon.
“Dillon did something I could not have done,” he said.
vguthrie@durangoherald.com
Organ donation myths
People may hesitate to be an organ donor for a variety of reasons. The Donor Alliance, the federally designated nonprofit that facilitates the recovery and donation of organs and tissues in Colorado and most of Wyoming, gives an argument against these common beliefs:
It’s a hassle to register to be an organ and tissue donor.
The alliance says the registration process is fairly simple and can be done online or at the Division of Motor Vehicles.
My religion doesn’t allow it.
Though there are some exceptions, most major religions allow it.
If I have a heart on my license to designate I am a donor, doctors may not try as hard to save my life.
The alliance says it is the priority of medical professionals to save lives and help injured people. Organ donations do not take place until a patient is declared dead.
My family will just decide for me.
Communicating with family members helps them understand and honor your personal wishes.
My family will have to pay to cover the costs of donating my organs.
There is no cost to the family upon an organ donation; any costs are associated with funeral arrangements.
Wealthy people and celebrities can move up the waiting list for an organ transplant more quickly.
Financial or celebrity status do not determine placement on a transplant list.
To sign up on the state’s donor registry, visit www.DonateLifeColorado.org. Or indicate your desire to be a donor on your driver’s license or state ID card. Most importantly, discuss the decision with your family so they understand your intent to give the gift of life after your death. Also, Colorado residents can visit www.colorado.gov/vroom to renew their license online and register as a donor.
