Organ Recipients Meet Woman Who Helped Save Them

March 27, 2006

By all appearances, Katherine Scott and William Sheridan are just regular folks. You'd never know that they were once on the verge of death and saved by organ transplants.

"I was very sick, there are some things I don't even remember," said Scott, a 44-year-old grandmother from upstate New York.

"They put me on an artificial pump that pumped the left side of my heart," said Sheridan, also a grandparent, from Long Island.

Along with their past illnesses, Scott and Sheridan share something else in common -- their transplants came from the same donor. On Monday, they met the mother who donated her son's organs to them. Donna Reed's 24-year-old son Keith died in a car crash two and a half years ago.

"He was a very sweet, intelligent, handsome, cute little guy," said Reed.

Scott received Keith's liver and kidney at the Westchester Medical Center, while Sheridan got his heart at Mount Sinai Medical Center. The transplant probably allowed William to see and get to know his four grandchildren.

"You can never say thank you, the words just can't express the way I feel," said Sheridan. "It's an internal gratitude that will always be there."

Scott also has a grandchild she likely wouldn't have lived to see.

"I just can't thank her enough for it," she said. "You know, it's the most special gift I ever had."

Both Scott and Sheridan said they feel great -- testimony to the effectiveness of organ transplantation.

But Elaine Berg, director of the New York Organ Donor Network, said the donor family also benefits from the transplants.

"It helps them get through the process," she said. "I think we saw Mrs. Reed really appreciate the fact that her son's tragic death led to something so positive. And I think that's another really important message."

Reed said the transplants gave her the sense that her son is still here on Earth.

"Yes, he does live on through them," she said.

The reunion also dispels the myth that only people of the same race can donate to one another -- the Reeds are white, while Scott is black.

There would be more success stories like this one if more people signed the organ donor line on the back of their driver's licenses, and then told their families of your wishes.

Copyright © 2006 by WNBC.com.

This article posted April 16, 2006.