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SALT LAKE CITY — Nicole' Hillary's husband was riding his motorcycle up to Mirror Lake with their son when a large deer came from the ravine and hit his motorcycle. She said when she got to the hospital she knew her husband, Del Hillary, was gone.
"The first people I think I met were the Donor Connect people ... as soon as I had seen their shirts, I knew he was not alive," Hillary said.
She said as soon as they asked, she said yes and asked what he could donate, knowing that her husband had chosen to be an organ donor.
Donor Connect, an organization that coordinates organ donations and helps get them to a recipient, marked the end of Donate Life Month, which is April, with a celebration for donor's families at the Celebration of Life Monument by the Salt Lake City Library on Saturday.
The monument is typically a peaceful, reflective place where people can find donors' names on the wall. Today, there was music and celebration.
Hillary said it was beautiful to see her husband's name on the memorial on Saturday, she said some of the same families she met at the event last year were there, all part of a large community of organ donors and receivers.
"Today I just kind of celebrated with everybody and felt the love, and that was really neat," Hillary said.
She had no idea how much the choice to donate her husband's organs would bless and help others until well after his death, she said.
Del Hillary was able to donate 10 different organs, helping save the lives of multiple people. Nicole' Hillary has reached out to some of them, she told them if they wanted to buy a giant box of Cheez-Its or a Diet Coke from McDonald's in the morning, that urge meant they had received Del Hillary's organs. She also told them that he was an "exceptional human" and that she wanted them to live "exceptional lives."
She said these recipients wrote her back letters of love, which she said were so poignant. She said they are now no longer on dialysis, are holding grandchildren and are able to be there for their children.
Hillary said that Donor Connect supported her throughout the process of organ donation, was always quick to respond, and was loving and helpful during a hard moment in her life.
They went through each organ individually and talked to her about them while her husband was on life support, and were loving and not pushy. She said they were at her side as soon as her husband passed away, and they kept checking on her afterward.
Sydney McPherson, director of donor family services with DonorConnect, said they support families for two years after they decide to donate an organ. She said when they reach out to people who are losing their loved ones and talk about the possibility of an organ donation, it is a way of giving the family a silver lining to their loved one's death.
"I think it helps in the grief process, knowing that even though their loved one is not here anymore and that's incredibly sad, it helps them to know that a part of them is still living on, you know, and the person that is living was given that life … I think it's healing," McPherson said.
She said she heard the word "healing" multiple times at the event from both donors and recipients.
McPherson said nationwide there are over 100,000 people waiting on the transplant list in the country, so there is a large need for donors. Organs from Utah and nearby states that DonorConnect serves can be sent locally if needed or around the country.
Part of the event on Saturday was releasing thousands of ladybugs into the gardens. In addition to ladybugs representing luck, McPherson said they represent a lost loved one coming and bringing comfort.
Hillary said she put her ladybugs in the trees, while most people there put them in the grass or flowers. She wanted them to be as close to heaven as possible.
She said deciding to be an organ donor isn't hard, it just takes a "yes" and talking to family about your decision.
"It's not hard when your family knows what (they) should do," she said.
Hayden Cullimore received a liver donation when he was 8 and is now 17. His mom, Tessa Cullimore, said he was born with a liver disease, biliary atresia, and he was on and off of the transplant list and had many procedures but got very sick shortly before he turned eight. She said would not have lived much longer without a transplant.
"We were really lucky," she said.
Hayden Cullimore was out of the hospital within 10 days of the transplant, faster than expected. After a few months, he felt better than he ever had. He said he was not able to jump on a trampoline or play tackle football before. After the transplant, he was able to join his friends in sports.
He said his donor lived just 10 minutes from his house. She was a teenager who did not have a license yet, but had talked to her parents before she passed away and told them she wanted to be an organ donor.
Hayden Cullimore is registered to be an organ donor, and he makes sure everyone he knows is too. He talks to his friends and convinces them to check "yes" before they go get their driver's licenses.
"I'm standing here because somebody donated," Cullimore said. "I just make sure that everybody is a donor."
He said he helped with the groundbreaking of the monument and his donor's name is on the memorial. He said it is meaningful for him to see the names of organ donors on the wall.
