Post by Daniel Mark Extrom on Apr 1, 2014 16:19:44 GMT -6
Have A Heart
Sometimes life can break a heart–
it cannot stand the strain.
But no one lives a life, we know,
that does not have some pain.
But I have seen the frantic eyes
of mothers in their tears–
overwhelmed by life itself,
overwhelmed with fears–
fearing that the kids they love
will live but months–not years.
And I have heard the quiet prayers
of fathers in the dark
asking God to give their sons
just one more healthy heart.
I have seen the heartache
of a husband for his wife,
who needs a healthy kidney
so she can have her life.
There are so many children,
so many broken hearts,
needing just a little help–
perhaps a few spare parts.
Your gift can save a mom or dad
or help a child survive.
You can mend a broken heart
and keep someone alive.
There are so many people
who are just like me
whose lives might well be mended
and you might hold the key.
I’m not asking for a favor;
I’m just looking for a friend
who wants to help another life
reach its destined end.
Your life can keep on giving
even when you’re gone.
You will go on living
as someone else lives on.
You see, there are so many lives
that you can help to mend.
Be a gift. Have a heart.
Be the one to save a life:
your life will live again.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom
This is the last in the series, and I am presenting this because April is Organ Donation Month.
This was the first of the organ transplant poems I wrote. It was written for young man who was very sick, and his heart and his kidney were failing. He was about 21 years old. And he had undergone his first heart transplant when he was only a few days old, because he was born with a defective heart. But that one was wearing out. He was in the hospital for several months, almost dying several times. He was very sick for much of that time, and there were times that a heart would become available, but he was too sick to undergo the surgery. And it was made even trickier because his kidney was failing too.
Other times, he was healthy enough for the surgery, but no heart or kidney was available. Talk about down to the wire! And finally, thanks to a heart donor and a kidney donor, and the families of those donors, he was able to have the surgeries, and both were successful, a testament to the fact that organ donation saves lives, and a testament to outstanding and committed care from the doctors and the nurses and the other healthcare professionals involved in his care. If there had been no donors, a family would have lost their son.
And today, he has graduated college and goes around the country speaking to encourage organ, cornea, and tissue donation. Someday, someone in your family might need an organ, or a cornea, or tissue. It works.
This was written for two purposes: one, to cheer him up and encourage him as he waited in his hospital room, day after day. I had it etched on picture matting, leaving an opening into which his picture could be inserted. Second, it was written to encourage donation. The more donors, the more successful surgeries can occur. (By the way, this is not a registration to be a living donor. While there are some incredible people who have donated while alive, I am talking here about donating post mortem.)
Donate life! Your life will live again. April is Organ Donation Month. You can go to www.donatelife.net.
I also show this on my own website too.
Sometimes life can break a heart–
it cannot stand the strain.
But no one lives a life, we know,
that does not have some pain.
But I have seen the frantic eyes
of mothers in their tears–
overwhelmed by life itself,
overwhelmed with fears–
fearing that the kids they love
will live but months–not years.
And I have heard the quiet prayers
of fathers in the dark
asking God to give their sons
just one more healthy heart.
I have seen the heartache
of a husband for his wife,
who needs a healthy kidney
so she can have her life.
There are so many children,
so many broken hearts,
needing just a little help–
perhaps a few spare parts.
Your gift can save a mom or dad
or help a child survive.
You can mend a broken heart
and keep someone alive.
There are so many people
who are just like me
whose lives might well be mended
and you might hold the key.
I’m not asking for a favor;
I’m just looking for a friend
who wants to help another life
reach its destined end.
Your life can keep on giving
even when you’re gone.
You will go on living
as someone else lives on.
You see, there are so many lives
that you can help to mend.
Be a gift. Have a heart.
Be the one to save a life:
your life will live again.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom
This is the last in the series, and I am presenting this because April is Organ Donation Month.
This was the first of the organ transplant poems I wrote. It was written for young man who was very sick, and his heart and his kidney were failing. He was about 21 years old. And he had undergone his first heart transplant when he was only a few days old, because he was born with a defective heart. But that one was wearing out. He was in the hospital for several months, almost dying several times. He was very sick for much of that time, and there were times that a heart would become available, but he was too sick to undergo the surgery. And it was made even trickier because his kidney was failing too.
Other times, he was healthy enough for the surgery, but no heart or kidney was available. Talk about down to the wire! And finally, thanks to a heart donor and a kidney donor, and the families of those donors, he was able to have the surgeries, and both were successful, a testament to the fact that organ donation saves lives, and a testament to outstanding and committed care from the doctors and the nurses and the other healthcare professionals involved in his care. If there had been no donors, a family would have lost their son.
And today, he has graduated college and goes around the country speaking to encourage organ, cornea, and tissue donation. Someday, someone in your family might need an organ, or a cornea, or tissue. It works.
This was written for two purposes: one, to cheer him up and encourage him as he waited in his hospital room, day after day. I had it etched on picture matting, leaving an opening into which his picture could be inserted. Second, it was written to encourage donation. The more donors, the more successful surgeries can occur. (By the way, this is not a registration to be a living donor. While there are some incredible people who have donated while alive, I am talking here about donating post mortem.)
Donate life! Your life will live again. April is Organ Donation Month. You can go to www.donatelife.net.
I also show this on my own website too.