|
Vickie was born on March 20, 1985, in Grants Pass, Oregon, and went to Hidden Valley High School.
She loved going with her church to Mexico at spring break to help families down there. I will never forget the
look on her face when she came back the first time and said how happy those people are, even though they have nothing materialistic,
to speak of.
She was accepted into her college of choice three weeks after her passing--Oregon State University---to study sports
medicine. She then wanted to get a nursing degree and go to Third World countries to offer her services for free.
On February 4, 2003, she was on her way to the boys' basketball game when, about 7 miles from home, we believe a deer
ran in front of her. She hit a tree with her pickup truck. We got a call around 8 PM, and went immediately to
the hospital. Of course, we could not fathom then that she would never come home.
She was airlifted to Portland with serious head injuries, and passed away at 11:08 AM on February 5th, as my husband
and I were with her.
We were asked about donating her organs; and, knowing what kind of a person Vickie was, we immediately said "Yes."
So, her liver was donated to an 18-year-old girl, her kidneys to a 68-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man, her lung to a
36-year-old woman, and her pancreas to the same man who got a kidney. Her heart and other lung were too damaged to be
used. I have heard from all of her recipients.
She is survived by her brother David, who is now 10; her half-brother Tom who is 37; her father Tom, who is 64; and her
mother Lyn who is 47. I am originally from Scotland, and Vickie was able to visit Great Britain three times---once when
she was 18 months old, then when she was 9 years old, and the last trip just one year before her accident.
|
