Organ donor remembered on Rose Parade float
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – This New Year’s Rose Parade will have a special Indiana connection thanks to the gift of life. Jennifer Spurgeon tragically died after a fire, but her organs saved three people. Now, her picture will be featured on the Indiana Donor Network’s float in Pasadena, California.
Spurgeon’s family gets to represent Indiana at the parade. She is one of 60 donors whose picture will ride on the float. Each one is a floragraph made out of spices, seeds, and flowers.
“It’s just an honor for the Indiana Donor Network to honor Jennifer in this way for the gift that she gave to these people,” Spurgeon’s mother Rhonda Berger said.
Before they leave for that trip of a lifetime, though, her mother wanted to thank the people who made it all possible.
Hugs, flowers, and even a few tears filled a busy St. Joseph Hospital lobby Monday morning.
“To see these people that I was with and that helped me at that time, that took care of Jennifer, is such an awesome feeling,” Berger said.
From the nurses in the burn center to the trauma therapist to Berger, it’s a reunion that’s been almost seven years in the making.
“It impacted my unit specifically in not only knowing the patient, but also knowing what we receive in return,” Nurse Manager for St. Joseph Burn Center Tammy Renner said. “They were young and the whole circumstance, I think something like that sticks with you. I’ve actually only dealt with a couple of donation cases and that was my first one. So, it’s probably always going to be something very special.”
In January 2009, Spurgeon and her two roommates died after an apartment fire. She was only 19, but Spurgeon had already registered to be an organ donor several years earlier when she got her learner’s permit.
“She goes ‘why not, I’m not going to need it,’” Berger said. “I knew that day what her decision was. So, you never think you’re going to be faced with that, but I was. So, it’s like that’s what Jennifer wanted. She wanted to be a donor.”
Spurgeon’s gift saved three other people. Her left kidney went to then 17-year-old Zach. Before the donation, the teenager needed a minimum of nine hours of dialysis a day
“Typical teenager, or tried to be, anyway. He loved baseball and doing all of those things,” Berger said. “So, once he got her kidney, he healed very quickly and actually got to play baseball again.”
Spurgeon’s family even went to Zach’s high school graduation party and still keep in touch with him.
A woman named Betty sat on the transplant list for almost five years before getting Spurgeon’s right kidney. She also lost a child. Her son got hit and killed by a drunk driver when he was in his mid-twenties.
“Betty was in her early 60s when she got Jennifer’s right kidney,” Berger said. “She worked all of her life and was a very active woman. She was right back in there, couldn’t wait to have the doctors tell her should was okay to go back to work.”
Spurgeon’s family talk to Betty frequently and even went on vacation to Holiday World with her a few summers ago.
Without Spurgeon’s gift, a man named Dennis would have likely died from liver cancer.
“Jennifer’s liver was actually the third one that became available to him. The other two prior weren’t a good enough match, but Jennifer’s was,” Berger said. “The letter that I got from his wife said that he is doing so well that he even argues with me sometimes, but I always win.”
Berger said her daughter’s selfless gift has helped the family heal after her death.
“It makes it easier to cope because then you’ve got that positive piece to such a tragic day that happened,” Berger said. “Jennifer’s life didn’t stop that day. She continues to live. She lives on in the life of others, and I think it’s wonderful. Jennifer has made a difference, and part of Jennifer is still alive out there. Things are not just totally gone. Knowing that her life did just not stop that day, that actually part of her still continues to live on in other people, and it enhances their lives. It’s given them a second chance to do things that they weren’t able to do. So, her life just didn’t stop, it keeps going forward.”
There are more than 123,000 people currently waiting for a transplant across the country. Almost 1,500 of them are from Indiana. To register to become a donor, click here.