Organ donors and recipients celebrate the gift of life at UNMH
Apr. 18—April 17, 2017, that was the day Antoniette Suina's life changed forever. Her son, 6-year-old Joel Anthony, would lose his life in a car accident. Not long after, Sunia was asked if she would be willing to have her son's organs donated to those in need.
As she pondered the decision, Sunia said she thought of what her son would do, and the answer became clear. "My son was loving and selfless," she said. "He would do anything to make others feel better."
Sunia said it was then she realized that her son would want his organs donated help other people. And help others he did.
Sunia would receive a letter from the New Mexico Donor Services a few months after Joel Anthony's organs were donated, informing her that his organs had saved the lives of a 52-year-old father of two, a 46-year-old married woman and mother of one who had been on a transplant list for 46 months, and an 11-year-old boy who suffered from congenital heart disease.
"My son fulfilled his purpose here," she said.
An emotional Sunia shared that story on Wednesday in front of a crowd of roughly 40 people gathered at the University of New Mexico Hospital, where they held a celebration for organ donors and recipients to mark April as Donate Life Month.
Sunia was one of several speakers invited to share their donation stories. Emmary Graham, 26, who was the recipient of a kidney donation, also shared her personal journey.
At 13, Graham was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus. "I had a pretty severe case and the main organ it effects was my kidneys," said Graham, who was placed on dialysis at the time.
"My kidneys recovered enough to be taken off it, but over the (next) few years, my kidneys progressively worsened and I was put back on dialysis and put on the transplant list," she said.
She faced a waiting game. Family member after family member were tested to see if they were a match, but none were. One of her best friends from childhood wasn't a match either, but still decided to donate his kidney to someone in need.
"(Graham's friend) said, 'I went through all of this, so I'm going to (donate my kidney) anyways, and he did in August. (His kidney) went from Virginia to Texas, which was pretty cool," Graham said.
Two months after her friend's donation, Graham received the call in November that she had been waiting for, they had a kidney for her.
"I called my dad into the room and got my mom on the phone and said, 'I have the kidney!' and everybody was in tears," she said. "My mom was in the middle of a bookstore and she screamed at the top of her lungs, 'My daughter's getting a kidney!'"
Two weeks later, Graham underwent successful transplant surgery. Now five months into her recovery, she's planning to return to college to pursue her passion for arts.
"I'm feeling a lot better and getting back into doing the things I like to do," she said, smiling.
Celina Espinoza, external affairs director with New Mexico Donor Services, said University of New Mexico Hospital had 59 people who donated 16 hearts, 95 kidneys, 33 livers and eight lungs in 2023. The donations saved roughly 240 lives.
But lives saved means lives lost, a fact not lost on Espinoza, who said she is glad they are were able to honor both donors and recipients on Wednesday.
"It's so nice to see both sides of the story. (Families) lose a loved one and it's the worst day of their lives and it's the best day in (the organ recipient's) life, and I think seeing all the people together, you really get to see the lasting legacy and hope that a donor leaves behind," she said.
Following the speakers, organ donors and recipients carried a Donate Life flag outside to the front of the hospital, where it will fly for the rest of the month.
