M
Mike Vandeman
Guest
"Something good came out the mountain biker's death. I don't
understand why the newspaper is afraid to call him a mountain biker"
At least no one had to get his brain....
Mike
North Van cyclist's tragic death opens door to six transplants
Lena Sin
The Province
Sunday, June 24, 2007
CREDIT: – Pilecki family photo
Jack Pilecki was killed in a cycling accident last Thursday. His
organs provided successful transplants for six people by midnight that
night.
After Jacek "Jack" Pilecki died last week, his family was given mere
moments to decide what to do with his body.
It's not the kind of question most wives or parents would want to face
in that moment of unthinkable grief, but it was a critical question
that six other families needed an answer to.
What hung in the balance was the potential to save five lives and
restore eyesight to a sixth person.
So when Pilecki's heart stopped and his body gave out after a cycling
accident in North Vancouver last Thursday, his common-law wife, Sheryl
Conway, and parents, Kaz and Krys, put aside tears to discuss the
issue of organ donation.
"It was without hesitation that we said yes . . . After Jack had
passed away, it seemed the only thing that I could do to try and make
the best of a terrible situation," Conway told The Province in an
e-mail.
Less than three hours after Pilecki died at 6 p.m. last Thursday,
doctors at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver began performing
transplant surgery.
By midnight, five British Columbians had received life-saving
transplants. A sixth had eyesight restored with Pilecki's corneas.
"When I talked to the transplant society rep after the transplants had
been completed at midnight [he was in the operating room during the
surgery], he told me how well everything had gone.
"He made it very clear how exciting it was to have had such successful
surgeries, and that we had made [six] families extremely thankful and
happy," Conway said.
The recipients included someone who'd been waiting three years for a
new heart.
Another recipient had been waiting five years for a liver.
Pilecki's lungs went to one British Columbian; another received one of
his kidneys.
And a fifth patient now no longer needs treatment for diabetes, thanks
to Pilecki's second kidney and pancreas.
"These are all people who received life-saving surgeries from Jack's
healthy body. They were also able to use both of Jack's corneas,
giving someone sight.
"Apparently we may be able to meet some or all of the recipients in
the future, and that would be an amazing finish to a very fulfilling
experience," said Conway.
Pilecki's family said he died doing what he loved best: cycling.
While going fast down a trail in the Seymour Demonstration Forest last
week, Pilecki collided with a rollerblader who was blading in the
wrong lane.
The helmet he was wearing was not enough to protect Pilecki when he
fell off his bike and his head hit the paved path.
North Vancouver RCMP say the accident could've been prevented had the
blader, a 24-year-old North Vancouver woman, stuck to the posted side
of the trail -- and Pilecki had been travelling slower.
The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid.
Jeff Peifer, who is married to Pilecki's stepdaughter, says Pilecki
loved to cycle every day and had started to amass a collection of
bicycles.
He participated in his first triathlon last year and was training for
another this year.
When not working, Pilecki and Conway, a high-school counsellor,
produced ceramic tiles and mugs from their North Vancouver home.
For Conway, it is the second time she has lost a partner. In 1989, she
lost her first husband in an accident on the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
Peifer said he was struck by both Conway and the Pileckis' generosity
during a very difficult time.
"To me, it seemed like the ultimate act of generosity," he said.
The family's decision to speak out publicly was based solely on the
hope that they might bring more attention to the importance of organ
donation.
"Although it was a bit of a process during a very sad and stressful
time, as a family, we felt that this is truly what Jack would have
wanted," Conway said.
"I would like to do whatever it takes to advocate the importance of
this cause to other families. We really do think of it as the best
outcome for a horrible situation."
[email protected]
© The Vancouver Province 2007
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
understand why the newspaper is afraid to call him a mountain biker"
At least no one had to get his brain....
Mike
North Van cyclist's tragic death opens door to six transplants
Lena Sin
The Province
Sunday, June 24, 2007
CREDIT: – Pilecki family photo
Jack Pilecki was killed in a cycling accident last Thursday. His
organs provided successful transplants for six people by midnight that
night.
After Jacek "Jack" Pilecki died last week, his family was given mere
moments to decide what to do with his body.
It's not the kind of question most wives or parents would want to face
in that moment of unthinkable grief, but it was a critical question
that six other families needed an answer to.
What hung in the balance was the potential to save five lives and
restore eyesight to a sixth person.
So when Pilecki's heart stopped and his body gave out after a cycling
accident in North Vancouver last Thursday, his common-law wife, Sheryl
Conway, and parents, Kaz and Krys, put aside tears to discuss the
issue of organ donation.
"It was without hesitation that we said yes . . . After Jack had
passed away, it seemed the only thing that I could do to try and make
the best of a terrible situation," Conway told The Province in an
e-mail.
Less than three hours after Pilecki died at 6 p.m. last Thursday,
doctors at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver began performing
transplant surgery.
By midnight, five British Columbians had received life-saving
transplants. A sixth had eyesight restored with Pilecki's corneas.
"When I talked to the transplant society rep after the transplants had
been completed at midnight [he was in the operating room during the
surgery], he told me how well everything had gone.
"He made it very clear how exciting it was to have had such successful
surgeries, and that we had made [six] families extremely thankful and
happy," Conway said.
The recipients included someone who'd been waiting three years for a
new heart.
Another recipient had been waiting five years for a liver.
Pilecki's lungs went to one British Columbian; another received one of
his kidneys.
And a fifth patient now no longer needs treatment for diabetes, thanks
to Pilecki's second kidney and pancreas.
"These are all people who received life-saving surgeries from Jack's
healthy body. They were also able to use both of Jack's corneas,
giving someone sight.
"Apparently we may be able to meet some or all of the recipients in
the future, and that would be an amazing finish to a very fulfilling
experience," said Conway.
Pilecki's family said he died doing what he loved best: cycling.
While going fast down a trail in the Seymour Demonstration Forest last
week, Pilecki collided with a rollerblader who was blading in the
wrong lane.
The helmet he was wearing was not enough to protect Pilecki when he
fell off his bike and his head hit the paved path.
North Vancouver RCMP say the accident could've been prevented had the
blader, a 24-year-old North Vancouver woman, stuck to the posted side
of the trail -- and Pilecki had been travelling slower.
The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid.
Jeff Peifer, who is married to Pilecki's stepdaughter, says Pilecki
loved to cycle every day and had started to amass a collection of
bicycles.
He participated in his first triathlon last year and was training for
another this year.
When not working, Pilecki and Conway, a high-school counsellor,
produced ceramic tiles and mugs from their North Vancouver home.
For Conway, it is the second time she has lost a partner. In 1989, she
lost her first husband in an accident on the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
Peifer said he was struck by both Conway and the Pileckis' generosity
during a very difficult time.
"To me, it seemed like the ultimate act of generosity," he said.
The family's decision to speak out publicly was based solely on the
hope that they might bring more attention to the importance of organ
donation.
"Although it was a bit of a process during a very sad and stressful
time, as a family, we felt that this is truly what Jack would have
wanted," Conway said.
"I would like to do whatever it takes to advocate the importance of
this cause to other families. We really do think of it as the best
outcome for a horrible situation."
[email protected]
© The Vancouver Province 2007
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
