Posted on 01/16/2006 7:07:55 PM PST by Born Conservative
One week after a little girl was hit by a mini-van in Lackawanna County, family members are making her funeral arrangements. They want everyone to know that her final gift may help save the lives of other children.
Mia Diaz, 8, of Olyphant died over the weekend. The third grader at Mid Valley Elementary School loved to cheer for the Olyphant Lions, an area junior football team.
She died nearly a week after being hit by a mini-van along East Scott Street in Olyphant, not far from where she lived. She'd been walking to the corner bus stop.
Mia's mother, Doreen Diaz, wanted to use her daughter's tragic story to get other people talking about organ donation. Her family said eight people who desperately need organs to survive will be receiving hers.
A six year old boy is getting Mia's heart, a nine month old baby boy and another child will each be receiving part of her liver, her lungs are going to an older person, and the list goes on.
"I never was an organ donor before but I will be now," Doreen Diaz said. "You never think about it, but you have to. Look at all the people Mia's helping. "
Funeral arrangements for the eight year old are incomplete at this point.
As for the people who are getting her organs, the Diaz family said they don't know much about the recipients, only that they're not from the area. Eventually they'd like to get to know them, maybe even meet the people Mia is helping to save.
There is a fund set up in Mia's name to help with medical expenses. Donations can be sent to: The Friends of Mia Diaz Medical Care Fund at Penn Security Bank and Trust Company, 526 Cedar Avenue, Scranton, 18505.
There are also two benefits scheduled to help the medical fund: Friday, January 27, at Shaker's in Dickson City and Saturday, January 28, at Runco's Tavern in Olyphant.
great story...
although I don't think anyone will want MY liver LOL :-)
This is in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The Red Cross goes into foot-stamping mode if I don't donate some B neg when the bloodmobile's in town.
LOL
B negative is needed, that's for sure.
I am O+, but I've also been overseas (and also in Iraq) in the past year or so, so I won't be able to give....
I started donating when my doctor suggested it as an easy way for me to lower the iron in my blood. I am happy to do this, the product is useful and I have a bunch of "blood shirts" as my wife calls them. These are donator T-shirts...
yeah.
When I was in high school, I always donated. I never had a problem either and generally had given that pint up in around 4 minutes, but then I would sit around and eat sammiches for the next hour so I didn't have to go back to class :)
God Bless this family.
As some on here know, my son had a liver transplant when he was 4 months old. As I was reading this an old memory poped up of when I was in the car waiting on a red light on 19th avenue in San Francisco on my way to the hospital. This was after my son was Status 1 on the transplant list, but before he had his transplant.
I remember sitting there thinking that somewhere there was a little kid running around playing - enjoying life - being a kid. And sometime in the next few days he would die and my son would receive his liver and hopefully live. We got the call on September 30th, 1999. Please say a prayer for the family of this poor little guy/gal.
And please say a prayer for my own little guy who has had a tougher than usually last couple of weeks:
http://www.caringbridge.org/ca/aidanryan/
Do you have hemochromatosis? It was a cause of my father's recent passing and I was told to get tested.
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