When remembrance of organ donors takes wing
By Alice Keesing
Advertiser Health Writer
Jeff DeGuzman followed the butterfly with his eyes as it beat its orange-and-black wings up into the blue Waikiki sky.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
For him, the butterfly's flight gave wings to his pain as he struggles to let his son go. Joshua died six years ago in a car accident when he was 12. But he lives on for his family in their memories and in the gift he gave when he died — his organs that went to keep others alive.
Attending yesterday's Waikiki ceremony with his parents, James Kaaa and Charlene Kekona of Maui, 2-year-old Journey Kekona peeks into a paper carton just as a butterfly takes wing to commemorate his brother Joshua's gift of life.
DeGuzman and about 200 other donor family members gathered yesterday at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel to remember their loved ones, releasing a small cloud of monarch butterflies as a symbol of the regeneration.
"We do this because we respect the gift that these people have given," said Robyn Kaufman, executive director of the Organ Donor Center of Hawai'i, which organizes the annual event.
"There is no organ donation without the donors' families. While these families are dealing with their horrible loss, they are thinking about something they can do to help someone else."
There are more than 300 people in Hawai'i waiting for an organ transplant, and about 80,000 people throughout the nation.
"About every 13 minutes, one more person is added to the waiting list, and an average of 16 people die every day — that is one every 96 minutes — waiting for an organ that could have saved lives," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Claude Allen, who spoke to the families yesterday.
Allen noted Hawai'i's success in increasing its organ donations. Just a few years ago, among all 50 states, Hawai'i had the fewest organ donations per capita. But for the last two years, Hawai'i has ranked in the top third.
Last year, 24 people donated 70 organs. Others gave their tissues — corneas, bone, heart valves — to help those with injury or disease.
Hawai'i residents can declare themselves organ donors when they obtain their driver license or by signing a donor card. People can also state their wishes in living wills. But the most important thing is telling family members because, ultimately, the decision lies with them. For more information about organ donation, call the Organ Donor Center of Hawai'i at 599-7630, or (800) 695-6554 for Neighbor Islands.
For Kirk Uechi, the donations embody the true meaning of aloha. He was close to death nearly three years ago when he received a liver from 15-year-old Joshua Kaaa of Maui, who was killed in a car accident.
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"It was definitely a life-saving gift," Uechi said. "It's hard to describe, but you try and make yourself feel worthy."
Uechi met Joshua's parents for the first time yesterday. He brought orange-and-yellow 'Ohi'a lehua lei for James Kaaa and Charlene Kekona.
He chose the blossom with care: The 'ohi'a, which produces lehua flowers, is the first seedling to appear on a new lava flow, signifying the promise of new life.
He and Joshua's parents struggled through their tears to find the words that would wrap around their unique bond.
"It's like I'm holding my son," said Kaaa after embracing Uechi.
DeGuzman hasn't met the recipients of his son's organs yet, but he knows one day he and his family will be ready.
Since his son's death, DeGuzman has become a board member of the organ donor center and is active in encouraging people to donate, particularly within the Filipino community. Filipinos make up a large part of the transplant waiting list but once accounted for only 3 percent of donors. Recent efforts have increased that to 24 percent.
DeGuzman remembers the difficult time at the hospital when he and his wife were asked if they would donate Joshua's organs. Joshua and his family had been on their way to a funeral when the car Joshua was riding in was sideswiped by another car. He never regained consciousness after sustaining massive head injuries. DeGuzman remembers that although doctors told them Joshua was brain-dead, he thought his son still looked very much alive.
"His chest was rising and falling as he breathed, but it was the machine doing it for him."
"For us, with him being 12 years old, we had to make the decision for him," said DeGuzman as he looked at his son's photo yesterday: wide smile, lively eyes and an athletic stance in his red-and-blue Wai'anae football uniform.
"What made us donate his organs was the type of person he was. He was really caring and loving. He would have wanted to give."
As DeGuzman and his wife and son released their butterfly yesterday, its flight symbolized Joshua's freedom and peace. As he and others went inside for lunch, to share stories and laugh and cry, the last of the butterflies took flight.
And then it was gone.
Reach Alice Keesing at akeesing@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.
