MILWAUKEE — At 1:08 p.m. Monday, the Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin raised a flag to mark April as Donate Life Month.
The flag recognizes organ donors and their families along with the recipients. The timing was intentional to represent how one organ donor can save up to eight lives.
"Organ donation is very important and one of the things that I always say it could be one of your family members," Shelita Furlow said.
"Donor families are so unbelievably generous, and it is our responsibility to our donor families that we honor their loved one and share the message and that's how we extend their legacy," Colleen McCarthy, vice president of Versiti Organ and Tissue said.
The memorial included a moment of silence to honor the more than 104,000 people on the national organ transplant waitlist. More than 2,000 of those are waiting in Wisconsin, according to Versiti.
"Organ donation is very, very rare. It is a rare opportunity to be able to donate an organ to be able to save the life of another person," McCarthy said.
Furlow was at the ceremony for her son Jovan Wilder.
"He was full of joy, and I miss him," Furlow said.
Wilder was 19 years old when he was hit by a stray bullet in Milwaukee and died.
While Furlow's family has been touched by organ donors and she is on the registry herself, she did not know that Wilder signed up too.
"In the grief it still makes me smile because it feels like I've done something right and that I really taught my son how to live. That's ultimately what matters here on earth is being able to love and to leave that legacy of love. That's really what that means to me," Furlow said.
Wilder's heart, liver, and kidneys went on to help four people.
Despite her heartache, Furlow believes it is important to share her son's story.
"If I can share my story and to be a light and be an encouragement to let other people know you can get through it then I'm gonna do my due diligence to help do that," Furlow said.
For the next year, the Donate Life flag outside Verisiti's headquarters in Milwaukee will fly in honor of Jovan.
If you want to register to be an organ donor visit donatelifewisconsin.org.
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