Akron woman turns death into new life for others

By Dan Kadar

Beacon Journal staff writer

June 11, 2006

Lori Coleman remembers the exact day it happened.

April 28, 1985.

On that spring night, her life and the lives of her two daughters, Jackie and Jill, changed forever.

Her husband, Ron, was out late that night riding his motorcycle. Because it was the first day of day-light saving time, Coleman wasn't too concerned when he wasn't home on time.

"I kept waiting for that phone to ring,'' she said. "I figured if a man called, he was in jail and can stay there. If it's a woman, he's probably dead. When a nurse called, she said I better get down (to the hospital) as soon as I could.''

Her husband died 12 hours later from complications after a motorcycle accident.

About six weeks after his death, Coleman accidentally received a report of his emergency room treatment in the mail. She called the Summit County coroner's office looking for some answers about his death. As they talked, the coroner asked why she hadn't donated his organs.

She didn't, Coleman said, because she was never asked by the hospital.

"When somebody dies, the only option you have is whether you want to donate their organs,'' she said. "Someone took that option away from me.''

Coleman decided she didn't want the same thing to happen to anyone else. She began a nursing degree at the University of Akron so she could work at LifeBanc, a Northeast Ohio nonprofit organ procurement organization.

She went around Ohio giving speeches and appearing in public service announcements. Her goal was to change, not only organ donation protocol, but also people's opinions about giving the gift of life.

"Maybe I was overlooked (at the hospital) because this is what I needed to do,'' she said. "I think I touched a lot more than just the people that could have used his vital organs.''

Since Coleman began speaking about organ donation, there have been statewide changes. Physicians are now required to ask loved ones whether the organs of a patient may be donated. A state donor registry for patients in need was also started.

The Akron woman certainly doesn't take sole credit for these things, but knowing the organ donation procedure has changed means the world to her.

Coleman became a heart transplant coordinator, first at University Hospitals in Cleveland and now at the Cleveland Clinic. She said there wasn't any other option for her besides working in transplantation.

"This is not what I do; it is who I am. I don't know anything else and I can't imagine doing anything else.''

Coleman thinks her husband would be proud. "This is how I keep Ron alive.''

Dan Kadar can be reached at 330-996-3094 or dkadar@thebeaconjournal.com.

Copyright © 2006 Akron Beacon Journal.

This article posted July 2, 2006.