Four years ago, Jaclyn Prybella didn’t know the man sheloved was a hero, but today she’s unafraid to call him exactly that – a hero.
See, Tyler Martin made a decision that would change thelives of four people across Colorado, and on this day Prybella was honoringthat decision.
Young and healthy, Martin wasn’t shy about his wishes when it came to helping others. If anything ever happened to him, his organs were to be donated. It wasn’t something that Martin and Prybella thought much about, especially as they raised their son, but on a fateful day four years ago their lives changed forever, along with four Colorado families.
“When Donor Alliance came to us in the hospital it wasn’teven a question,” Prybella said. “We didn’t even think twice. It was a yes.That’s what Tyler would have wanted.”
After a fall from a roof, Martin died in the intensive care unit of a Denver-area hospital, but his heart, his kidneys and his liver were taken and given to donors in the area.
“Tyler saved four lives,” said Prybella, who is raising thecouple’s now seven-year-old son. “That right there, becoming a hero saved me,”
On this day, as part of National Donate Life Month, Prybella was walking with the Donor Alliance members to honor the work of hospital workers at Northern Colorado Medical Center, but also to raise awareness about the need for donors in Greeley, Weld County and across the state.
The Donate Life website provides a sobering statistic whenit comes to organ donation: 98 percent of people favor it, but only 58 percentof people actually are registered to donate.
In Colorado, 69 percent of residents have signed up for organ donation and nearly 2,000 Coloradans are in need of a transplant.
She handed out snacks and other small gifts to doctors,nurses and hospital staff and thanked them for their work. One of the peopleshe thanked was nurse Lori Sterbenk, who NCMC’s director of perioperativenursing.
“Well, it’s important for our community,” Sterbenk said. “Wealso get reports on where the donatedorgans go and most of them stay in Colorado, and our team really loves to knowthey provide a life to other people in our community and throughout our state.”
At NCMC, like most hospitals, organ donation and transplantis part of the daily work in the hospital, and raising awareness about the needremains a focus. For the last two years, NCMC has held an honor walk for thefamilies who had relatives make the ultimate donation.
“We really consider it and honor and a privilege toparticipate in the process,” Sterbenk said.
For Prybella, the work she’s done with Donate Life and theDonor Alliance came within six months of Martin’s passing.
“Six months later, I signed up to be an advocate,” said Prybella,who moved to Greeley to be closer to family.
In honor of National Donate Life Month, NCMC and hospitalsacross the state are hosting ceremonies and engaging light displays throughoutthe month. The displays of blue and green lights are meant to show appreciationfor those who have signed up to become organ, eye and tissue donors and inspireothers to consider such an act of generosity.
Want more information about how to donate? Visit the DonateLife website: https://www.donatelife.net/
