SPRINGVILLE – Darrean Mitchell 19, passed away on Wednesday at IU Methodist Hospital after suffering a head injury in a car accident. Darrean was registered as an organ donor.
“He was all the time losing his wallet, and he had to get a new license and he decided to become an organ donor,” said his mother Jena Baker. “He talked about being an organ donor previously with me, I told him I selected to be an organ donor because I was not going to need my organs whenever I passed. The first time he got his license he did not select to be a donor but the next license he did so.”
On Wednesday night at 11:00 p.m., an honor walk was held with the nurses from the Intensive Care Unit along with six of his family members as they walked Darrean to the surgery room for organ recovery surgeries.
The Indiana Donor Network assisted with granting Darrean’s final wish of helping others. His heart, pancreas, and liver were sent off immediately to help those in need. Other organs were also recovered to help other families.
Exactly how many people Darrean will help safe is not known at this time.
According to their website, the Indiana Donor Network serves as the vital link between donors and patients waiting for lifesaving organ transplants, healing tissue, and corneas to restore sight. Indiana Donor Network is the state’s federally designated organ recovery organization and an accredited tissue bank. More than 225 dedicated professionals are committed to saving and healing lives through donation and transplantation, championing the cause through education and outreach, and supporting families of donors in their time of need.
Specifically, Indiana Donor Network:
- Provides Hoosiers with information needed to make an educated decision about donation
- Coordinates the donation process according to federal regulations and with the utmost respect for medical ethics
- Offers access to the Indiana Donor Registry so people can sign up to be a donor
- Offers grief support services to families before, during and after donation
- Assists Indiana hospitals in developing donation policies and procedures, and educates healthcare professionals about the donation process
- Evaluates potential donors for medical suitability to donate organs and/or tissue
- Recovers organs and tissue from donors on-site in the Indiana Donor Network Organ and Tissue Recovery Center
More than 100,000 men, women, and children nationally are waiting right now for an organ transplant. More than 1,000 of those waiting are Hoosiers. As a registered donor, you can be the reason a life is saved, a debilitating injury is healed, eyesight is restored.
Anyone can sign up to be an organ and tissue donor. Interested people should never rule themselves out due to age or medical conditions. Physicians will determine at the time of death what organs and tissues can be donated to help others.
Darrean had an interest in becoming an Army medic, a ranger in the military or a flight medic in civilian life according to his mother. Darrean’s passion was helping people. His final act here on this earth not only helped the individuals that needed an organ but also helped many family members and friends continue to have more time with their precious loved ones.
Funeral arrangements still remain pending at this time.
