ASHLAND — Sue Doughty wears a lapel pin picturing a woman she never met, but to whom she owes her life.
It’s a picture of Melody Benson, who died of a stroke at 43. It was May 16, 2005. Three hours later, transplant surgeons replaced Doughty’s failing liver with Benson’s.
Like any transplant recipient, Doughty felt — and still feels — a strong sense of gratitude to her donor. Perhaps she has more to be grateful for than some because, in addition to a life-saving transplant, Doughty made a new friend.
Melody Benson’s mother, Nettie, wanted to meet the recipient of her daughter’s liver the moment she heard the transplant had taken place. That wasn’t possible under organ donor rules, so she had to wait a year.
The day the year was up Benson and Doughty talked on the phone and made plans to meet for dinner that night.
Of course it was that urgent, Benson said. “She’s got a part of my daughter.”
By now, however, their relationship is far deeper than a grieving mother’s clinging to her daughter’s memory.
They’ve become fast friends who travel together and stand close together the way sisters do.
So it was fitting that they came to Ashland together from their Indiana homes to attend and speak at a ceremony in remembrance of organ donors on Saturday.
Gathered under a canopy in Central Park, recipients and donor families lit candles to mark the life-saving contributions made by donors.
“We want to increase awareness of the need for organ donors,” said Joy Adkins, community education coordinator for West Virginia/Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates. There are more than 98,000 people in the United States on waiting lists for organs, she said. “The need for organs far outpaces the supply.”
The ceremony was hosted by Second Chance at Life, a coalition of recipients, those awaiting organs, and donor families.
Second Chance was founded by Patricia Rice, who had a liver transplant in December 2004. Rice remembers longing for someone to talk to who would connect with her own sense of worry and confusion.
“I didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t know what to expect. It was absolutely scary,” she said.
She set up meetings with representatives of Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates and went on to organize a support group that became Second Chance.
“Nobody else knows what you go through,” said Raenotta Spillman, who is married to Rice’s nephew and who received a kidney and pancreas at about the same time as Rice had her transplant.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.
Local News
Related Photos
-
John Flavell
-
John Flavell
Discussion
Gratitude to those who chose to give
Central Park vigil honors organ donors
- Local News
-
-
Pooches take to the street in Dog Jog
They were running with the big dogs Saturday in Grayson.
-
A Smith Branch Legacy
Six generations of Robinsons have called Smith Branch home.
-
Court battle heating up over stretch of blacktop
The court fight is just heating up over a block-long stretch of blacktop in Grayson.
More parties are piling on in the lawsuit accusing Grayson of passing an illegal ordinance to take ownership of the pavement. -
Regional jails ‘a total failure’
As the debate over a proposal to create a new Northeast Regional Jail Authority continues, some officials with the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville are watching closely.
-
Beshear in West Liberty to help in tornado recovery
State legislatures and Gov. Steve Beshear gathered in West Liberty on Friday to sign three bills that will help in the recovery efforts of the tornado-stricken town.
-
Students get more than a scoop’s share
There’s nothing more refreshing than ice cream on a hot day, and no one knows that better than the principal of Hager Elementary School in Ashland.
-
2 school aides part of drug arrests
Two elementary school aides and three other people were arrested Thursday in a Carter County drug investigation.
-
5K run main attraction for Final Friday in Greenup
Greenup’s Final Friday included the usual live entertainment and car show, but a 5K run also attracted many to town Friday evening.
-
Fla.-to-Boyd drug ring defendants plead guilty
One of the eight people charged in an alleged Florida-to-Boyd County pill-trafficking ring pleaded guilty Thursday and a second is expected to do the same next week.
A third defendant in the case pleaded guilty May 18. -
Carter school layoffs possible
Carter County schools are looking at deep budget cuts and layoffs.
About 20 may lose their jobs this year, treasurer Andy Lyons said. Lyons spoke to a reporter Thursday after presenting a tentative budget to the school board last week. - More Local News Headlines
-
Pooches take to the street in Dog Jog
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
