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D O N O R F A M I L Y
S U P P O R T
Jody Miller’s daughter Heather was 21 when her life
was cut tragically short in 2008. She was the victim
of a drunk driving accident, and had already made
the pledge for life.
“She was a nursing student, and that’s what she
wanted to do,” Jody says of Heather becoming a
donor.
Each year since, Jody and her family have found
ways to honor Heather’s life.
The family held a special ceremony in 2015 at Ohio
Valley Medical Center, where they dedicated the
room in which Heather stayed in the ICU. Jody also
continued their tradition of awarding an annual
Heather Miller Memorial Scholarship for nursing
students at West Virginia University, in addition to
several local high school scholarships—55 to date.
The family also hosted another successful golf
classic in Heather’s memory, where a team from
CORE participated. Jody says collaborating with
CORE to promote donation has not only kept her
busy, it’s kept her motivated.
Jody says. “I feel like that’s Heather saying,
‘Mom, you can do this.’ It keeps me putting
one foot in front of the other.”
It seems like when
I’m having a bad day,
someone from CORE
reaches out with a
volunteer opportunity,
“
”
“After Kristin
died, I had
the strength
to write the
recipients
about a month
later. Every day
I checked the
mailbox until
I got the first letter from the liver
recipient. Then I heard from a kidney
recipient. It has given me such joy to
knowmy daughter has saved three
people. ”
—Priscilla Conger,
mother of Kristin O’Neill
CORE facilitated a record number
of donor family and recipient
meetings in 2015.
The boost in participation,
according to Donor Family Liaison
Michelle Christenson, is due
in part to an increase in direct
communication with donor
families and recipients.
“We’ve really revamped our
communication efforts,”
Christenson said. “I think a lot
of people in the past have not
realized that donor families and
recipients can communicate
through CORE. They have the
ability to even meet and have
that direct communication while
leaving the coordination to CORE.”
Christenson also credits the
growth with the expansion of the
Donor Family Services department,
an overhaul of the donor family
program and the launch of a new
donor family aftercare program.
“Donor families are truly heroes.
Without them, there wouldn’t
be transplants for recipients,”
Christenson said. “For them to
be able to interact and have
that direct communication with
each other—it’s been very well
received.”
