[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 16, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1756-E1757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MOTHER MEETS RECIPIENT OF SON'S HEART
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HON. HENRY J. HYDE
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, September 16, 1997
Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, a heart transplant is but one of today's
medical miracles, but miraculous it is when 71-year-old Bill Ellis is
alive and well today with the transplanted heart of then 10-year-old
Travis Robinson of Salt Lake City, Utah.
This remarkable story is well told in an article published April 24,
1996 in the Salt Lake City Tribune.
I take this opportunity to share this great story with my colleagues:
[From the Salt Lake Tribune, Apr. 24, 1996]
Mom Is Happy Son's Little Heart Went to Such a Big-Hearted Man--Mother
Meets Recipient of Son's Heart
(By Norma Wagner)
After losing her 10-year-old son Travis to a traffic
accident in September, Tracy Robison was not sure she ever
would want to meet the patient who received the fifth-
grader's heart.
``I had mixed emotions about it,'' said Robison, an
emergency-room nurse in Provo who was working when her son
was brought into the hospital.
But through a series of unusual circumstances, 71-year-old
Bill Ellis, CEO of a national snack company in Chicago, found
out it was Travis' donated heart that saved his life.
Ellis had an old friend in Utah, Gordon ``Boots'' Barnett,
whom he had not seen in 18 years. The two recently got in
touch again, and when Ellis--who suffered from terminal heart
disease--told Barnett his new heart had come from a young boy
in Orem, Barnett knew it had to be Travis.
After all, Barnett's granddaughter was one of Tracy
Robison's best friends.
After contacting the Robisons, Ellis flew to Salt Lake City
last month and met his donor family.
``Talking with and seeing Bill, it's just been incredible
for me,'' Robison, 33, said. ``It just makes me so happy that
Travis' heart is still beating. And Bill is a very generous
person. In return for someone saving his life, he's turning
around and doing good things for other people.''
As for Ellis, who has become a major supporter of shelters
for abused women and children in Alabama and Los Angeles, he
has not only found new meaning in life, but ``another family
in Salt Lake City.''
``I have a picture of Travis and his mother and two
brothers right here in my office,''
[[Page E1757]]
Ellis said Tuesday from the Chicago headquarters of Farley
Foods. ``I met the family, and when you stand there and
realize that her son's heart is in your body, well, I
just, I get kind of choked up talking about it. I could
tell it was the same for her when she looked at me.''
Ellis and the Robisons decided to share their story to help
increase awareness during National Organ and Tissue Donor
Awareness Week, which began Sunday and runs through Saturday.
Across the United States, transplant centers are suffering
a critical shortage of organs and tissue and have launched
the first nation-wide campaign to increase the number of
donors. The Coalition on Donation has enlisted Michael Jordan
of the Chicago Bulls as its national spokesman. Jordan will
be featured in 30-second radio and television commercials, on
billboards, transit advertising and through direct mailings
throughout the country.
The coalition is a national, non-profit alliance that
represents nearly 100 organizations involved in organ and
tissue procurement and transplantation. The thrust of its
campaign is to motivate more Americans to discuss with family
members their decision to become donors. The coalition
estimates that permission required from next-of-kin is denied
in 50% to 85% of the cases where there is high potential for
donation. Discussions prior to death can eliminate confusion
and uncertainty about the desire to be a donor and help make
it easier for family members to carry out a donor's wishes,
said coalition president Howard Nathan.
More than 45,000 critically ill Americans are on waiting
lists for organ transplants, with a new name added every 18
minutes. Last year, more than 19,000 transplants were
performed in the United States. But 3,000 people died while
waiting for a suitable donor.
In Utah, 190 people are awaiting vital organ transplants.
And many more are in need of tissue such as bone, skin and
corneas. During 1995, 207 patients received organ transplants
from 57 Utah donors.
Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt is joining the effort by holding a
press conference at 10:15 a.m. today at University Hospital
in the second-floor conference room. And at noon,
Intermountain Organ Recovery System will hold a tree planting
ceremony in Canyon Rim Park, 3100 S. 2900 East, in a tribute
to donor families and transplant recipients.
The decision to donate was an obvious choice for Tracy and
Conan Robison.
As a nurse at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, Tracy
Robison witnessed miraculous changes in patients' lives after
their diseased organs were replaced by healthy ones.
She was working at the hospital on the evening of Sept. 12
when her mother called and said Travis had been hit by a car
a half-block from home. ``She said he was unconscious and his
legs were twisted. I didn't totally panic at that point
because unconscious to me is possibly not as critical,''
Robison said. ``We see it here all the time.''
But then the E.R. got a call from the ambulance en route.
``They said they were coming in Code 3, which is the worst
you could come in with,'' she said. Travis' pupil's were
fixed and he was breathing erratically. ``The worst insult
was to his brain.''
Tests two days later confirmed Robison's worst fear: Travis
was brain dead. Within a few hours, transplant technicians
were removing his organs.
In addition to his heart going to Ellis, Travis' liver went
to a father of five in Springville and both kidneys went to
two different women in Salt Lake. And his eyes restored the
sight of two others.
``I really think that somebody else should have the
opportunity to improve their life with something that
somebody else doesn't need,'' Robison said. ``It's not going
to do any good for Travis to keep it. And for me, it has
brought an incredible amount of peace and happiness that
others have been benefited.''
When looking at Ellis, she added in a choked voice, ``I can
see Travis in so many ways. I can't think of a better person
that his little heart could have gone to. Travis had a big
heart and Bill does, too.''
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