In a flag-raising ceremony April 1 at Fairview Ridges in Burnsville, hospital staff honored the donors who save strangers’ lives. Among those donors is 35-year-old Gary Joe Bougie, a father of three who died unexpectedly in 2014 after he had routine gallbladder surgery (at a non-Fairview hospital). Gary had just recently opened Pizzeria Pezzo in downtown White Bear Lake when he died.
His father, Gary Bougie, said organ donation has been lifechanging for him as he processes the unimaginable grief of losing a child. When Gary received a letter that his son’s tissue helped repair the knee of a young tennis player, he said it was life-changing.
“Donating my son’s organs has given us hope, comfort and knowing that going forward, our son has a legacy,” Bougie said.
Gary's dad got a call 12 hours after his son unexpectedly passed away, asking if he'd give permission for him to be a donor. “When you lose a child it’s devastating,” Bougie said. “I wasn’t even thinking when I said ‘yes,’ but I’m so glad I did.”
The letter affected him so much, Gary called LifeSource and asked what he could do for the organization. He has been serving as a LifeSource Donate Life Ambassador ever since.
Nationally, about 50 percent of people have designated themselves as a donor (on their driver’s license/online registry/healthcare directive); however, in Minnesota, the rate is 67 percent.
Fairview hospitals started a program last year to honor donors who save strangers’ lives. Now, every time someone donates an organ at Fairview Southdale, Fairview Ridges or University of Minnesota Medical Center, the flag bearing the words “Donate Life” is raised, signaling that someone’s loss is giving life to someone else.
The Bougie family and other donor's families spoke at the flag-raising ceremony. The ceremony coincides with the beginning of National Donate Life Month, as declared by Donate Life America, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of donated eyes, organs and tissue.
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