Donor Hero…

Robby Somerville Jr.

By Michelle Lester
Donor Mom

My son Robby was 16 when he was thrown from the trunk of a moving car. He suffered severe head trauma but had no other injuries. After six days in the Med-Surg unit of University Hospital, we realized that Robby was going to die. I had to sit his father down and tell him of a conversation that Robby and I had only six months before this happened.

Robby had seen a young woman who had been injured in a sledding accident and was on life support. She would be that way for the rest of her life. He told me he would never want to live like that and if something happened to him, he would want to help people any way that he could. I told him I didn't want to talk about it, since no parent ever dreams that they will have to bury their own child. But here I was having to deal with just that.

I know that if Robby hadn't told me this, there would have been some hesitation on my part to do this, but there was none. When the doctor explained to us that Robby was going to be declared brain dead, I told him it was Robby's decision to be an organ donor. We went through the process of different tests as the doctor explained we would, but I knew exactly when he died because I was in his room with him.

I wish I had known more about the donation process when Robby died because there was so much more we could have done. But I did realize that there was absolutely nothing in this world that could bring him back and I had to make something good come out of this. We donated five of his organs to four different people. That means four families didn't have to go through the pain and suffering we went through because of the unselfishness of our son, Robert Somerville Jr.

I miss him every day. I think of him constantly and I have really bad days sometimes, but then I remember the families that Robby was able to help and it makes getting through those times just a little easier.