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Springfield
Mercy Hospital Springfield unveiled its new memorial honoring organ donors on June 18. As visitors and caregivers passed the memorial wall, they stopped to thank Marla Housley, whose vision and determination made the memorial possible.
Housley is an advanced clinical nurse educator at Mercy Hospital Springfield, and she was inspired to create a memorial for organ donors. As a nurse, she has seen the impact of organ donation and met families of patients who gave the gift of life in their final moments. She wanted a way to honor donors that went beyond the ceremonial honor walk. Also known as a hero walk, the honor walk encourages hospital caregivers to form a procession as an organ donor is transported.
“I felt called to create this memorial,” Housley said during the unveiling event. “Donors deserve a place of dignity, beauty and enduring gratitude.”
Mid-America Transplant Foundation gifted the funds for the memorial through Mercy Health Foundation Springfield and reminded attendees at last week’s unveiling that each organ donor can have a profound impact on countless other patients. Last year alone, 28 organ donors at Mercy Hospital Springfield gave the gift of life through 91 life-saving organ transplants. An additional 8,700 lives were healed through 116 tissue and cornea donors.
The mural features a video screen to recognize tissue and cornea donors, along with a treescape with three components, each representing a different group of organ donors. The butterflies honor children whose brief lives touched others while the leaves pay tribute to Mercy patients. The rocks at the bottom of the mural honor Mercy caregivers. “Each butterfly, leaf and rock carries a name and a date,” Housley said. “They’re an anchor of a memory – a reminder that behind every transplant is a family, a story and a legacy of generosity that cannot be measured.”
