Val Amsden of Burnsville had just finished telling her three young children that their “Uncle Dan” had died at 44 of an unexpected cardiac complication in November 2022, when she got a call from LifeSource. Her brother hadn’t registered and the nature of his death made organ donation impossible, she learned, but he could donate his eyes and tissues to patients who needed them. Overwhelmed, and with only minutes to make a decision, she called other relatives and her brother’s ex-wife to see what they thought. She ultimately consented as the designated decision-maker for her brother, because she thought of him as a giving person.
“I wasn’t prepared,” said Amsden, who subsequently created a podcast to help people discuss the end of life. “That’s a big decision, and we had not talked about it.”
Bauer said he will always remember getting the call at the fire station that a donor organ had been matched to his son. Firefighters congratulated him as he wept with joy, but also some grief that the opportunity came at someone else’s expense.
Bauer’s son is six and in kindergarten. Its unclear whether he will need future transplants, but he is healthy and happy.
“Right now, if you would look at Coyle, you would have no idea he had anything done,” Bauer said. “He’s a boy that want to be outside, wants to be in the dirt.”
