Let Zach’s story touch your life — decide to be a donorThe Star Herald this week features a story (see the front page) about young Zach Zwaan turning 16 years old Saturday.As both a reporter and fellow parent, Zach’s story — as well as the story behind the story — is remarkable to me. The fact that Zach has outlived medical prognoses that he’d never last past 5 or even 10 years old is newsworthy in itself.He’s not able to communicate beyond smiles, frowns and primitive grunts, but turning 16 against those odds shows remarkable perseverance.Even more remarkable, to me, is the perseverance of his parents.Poor little Zach has endured more than his share of physical pain — 30 major surgeries — in his young life. But I can’t imagine the pain of being the parent through all that.Monte and Staci had to not only see their little boy suffer, but they had to live with knowing their decisions led to the procedures causing the pain.It’s hard to write a Zach story without crying for him and his family and for other families like theirs. To put myself in their shoes even for a moment is too overwhelming.But they don’t cry when they talk about it.They talk instead about how Zach has made them stronger, love each other more and appreciate more deeply life’s little blessings.That, to me, is the remarkable news angle in this story.No wonder they believe Zach has a purpose in living. His story touches others in a way that makes us more compassionate, more appreciative and at the very least better able to handle daily stresses — which by comparison to the Zwaans’ life stresses, are relatively minor.Think about organ donationFinally, I thought it remarkable that the Zwaans wanted to remind readers of the importance of organ donation.Let’s face it … Zach is no poster boy for heart transplants. He’s a living example of what can go terribly wrong on the operating table.The Zwaans know this, but they also know some family made the decision in a time of crisis to donate their child’s organs so other children could live.What they remember is that thoughtful choice gave Zach a chance to live.April is National Organ Donation Month, the perfect time to decide to be an organ and tissue donor.It’s a matter of saying "yes" to donation on your driver’s license and making sure your family knows your intentions.And, God forbid, if your children are fatally injured, decide now that their organs will enable other children to live.LifeSource can be contacted at 1-888-5-DONATE or at www.organdonation.org.
