Donor Stories

Donor Stories

The gift of life through organ, eye and tissue donation has a lasting impact on donor families, recipients, recipient families and living donors. Read inspirational stories from families whose loved ones impacted the lives of transplant recipients through the generous gift of donation.

Cassia Millspaugh

When Cassia died, her family began to consider donating her organs — then learned she already was a registered donor. Today, they find comfort in knowing Cassia lives on through the people she helped save.

In a video beloved by her family, Cassia can be seen trying and failing to provide basic directions between two major cities in the state in which she always lived. Her frequent smiles, laughter and eye rolls throughout the video sum up Cassia’s essence: She was funny, loving, competitive, gullible and directionally challenged.

Wyatt Hughes

Big-hearted Wyatt loved helping people, so it was no surprise that he joined the donor registry. His ability to save lives through organ donation has provided a sense of community his family hadn’t expected.

A goofy overthinker who loved fishing, Wyatt Hughes had a big heart. His parents, Jenny and Sean Hughes, describe him as a class clown who liked to help others. It was no surprise to Jenny and Sean that Wyatt made the choice to join the organ and tissue donor registry. “That was all on my son,” Sean said. “I thought very highly of his decision.”

Elly Liebenguth

Elly once told her mother that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted to help other people through organ donation. The fact that she helped save five lives has been instrumental to her family’s healing.

Funny, genuine and full of love, Elly was “one of the kindest people you’ll meet,” according to her mom, Cindy Liebenguth. Elly enjoyed time outdoors hunting and training dogs with her dad. Soon after beginning a nursing program as an honors student, her life was cut short in a moped accident.

Read about recipients and the impact their donors made, or tell us about your own personal experience with organ donation.