National Donate Life Month

April 17, 2018

More than 1,400 Mississippians are in need of a life-saving transplant. On any given day, an average of 22 people die while waiting for a transplant.

News 25’s Toni Miles takes us to Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, as the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency, or MORA, teams up with a South Mississippi mother who now champions the cause for people to sign up as organ donors.

“He was my first. The first boy, having two girls. That was my rock, my protector is now gone.” It’s a day Adrian Murry will never forget. “September 5^th, my son was working and had an accident and was in a coma for an entire week. He passed that Saturday which is the 12^th. At that time, I didn’t know he was an organ donor.”

It took a while for it all to sink in. After all, no parent ever thinks they will lose, much less have to bury their own child. That’s what happened when Murry’s 25-year-old son, Kendrick, passed away unexpectedly in 2015. Because of his decision to register as an organ donor before his death, several people are alive today, including a member of Murry’s church who needed a kidney, and even one of Murry’s relatives. “My cousin needed a heart. I wasn’t aware of that. She got the call the same night Michael Minor got the call and she’s doing great. So, I have a cousin and a member of my church who benefited from my son.”

Murry is now a registered organ donor and she urges everyone to join her by signing up to help give the gift of life. Trisha Byrd with MORA said, “You can sign up at donatelifems.org. You can also sign up when you get your driver’s license renewed. They will ask you if you want to be an eye, tissue, and organ donor there.”

As for Murry, now she’s using the misery of losing her son and turning it into her ministry and life’s mission. Murry has formed two foundations, including one that is a support group for those who have suffered losses similar to her own. “I started the KGM Foundation and also the Mothers of Angels. The Mothers of Angels is a support group for mothers who lost their children, specifically donor moms. We need to be there for each other. Any mother who lost their child, they need support, too. We’re just getting started.”