The
Transplant Bear
“Kelly”
was created to reach out to people, offering HOPE & LIFE through organ
donation.
This
is Kelly’s story:
KELLY SHAWN GROS, born April 20, 1989 in Topeka, Kansas was best known
for his great smile and sense of humor. He
arrived with a smile that encompassed the dynamics of a whole baseball field.
Our family moved to the Stoney Creek area of Littleton, CO in 1986.
On the eve of
January 10, 1998, Kelly gave up his coveted smile to the “angel of death”. An accidental gun-shot wound claimed his earthly body and
freed his spirit to soar to the heavens with all the other butterflies before
him. He was a young 17 year old.
The incident occurred at the home of Kelly’s best friend.
Tucked quietly away in the friend’s bedroom, seven teenagers sat
around playing with this gun that Kelly had taken from a neighborhood car.
Witnesses say that Kelly, notoriously fearless, started pointing it at
the others. Noting their fear, he
proceeded to assure them that it was perfectly harmless as he mindlessly
turned the weapon towards his own temple.
Unbeknownst to Kelly, the unstable, trigger-sensitive gun was loaded.
The slight twist of his hand engaged the weapon without even pulling
the trigger, instantly striking the smile from Kelly’s face.
No adults were home at the time. Kelly’s
best friend administered CPR. God
retrieved Kelly’s consciousness just long enough to recognize and call out
the name of his buddy leaning over him and for one small moment in time, the
world stood still.
The only peace
that came from such a tragic loss was when a Donor Alliance recovery team
approached us in the hospital with the option of donating Kelly’s organs. With sensitivity and quiet emotion, they presented the facts.
Organ donation is only possible when a brain death occurs and the heart
still beats.
Our decision was
met with the assurance that Kelly would be treated with the utmost respect.
We chose to have Kelly cremated. With
the return of his ashes, came the return of the gold cross necklace I had
removed from around my neck and placed in Kelly’s hand in the hospital room
before they took him away from me. I
wanted him to know that I loved him and that I was with him.
I asked that the cross be returned to me.
Kelly must have held on tight as the test of fire had removed its
luster and its strength gave way to fragility, but it came out whole.
A small miracle proving Kelly was not alone. God was my stand-in.
Kelly’s heart was at least twice as big as his smile.
Being able to donate his organs and tissue was the only positive thing
we could do to honor him. Knowing
that even in death Kelly is reaching out to people offering HOPE & LIFE
through the donation of his organs. Kelly
lives on in the lives of those who, without his gift, would have been left
without LIFE. I and my other two
sons were greatly blessed with the privilege and honor of meeting Kelly’s
liver recipient. What an awesome
healing experience to know that part of him lives on through his gift of LIFE
to others in great need.
Ironically, from his window in heaven, Kelly welcomed the Columbine
angels on what would have been his 20th birthday, April 20, 1999.
I, Kelly’s mother, now work for Statline as a Family Services
Coordinator, talking with families experiencing loss like my own, offering the
option of donation. It is the most rewarding job I’ve ever done with the
exception of being the mother of Kelly, Jay and Damon Gros.
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The above poem was an inspirational message received from Kelly through
his Aunt Tricia for his mother, Linda.
†Christmas
1998
