TAMPA, Fla. — Derbin Manuel Huertas passed away suddenly last year from complications of diabetes at the young age of 15.
“He was full of joy and love,” said his mother Ana Brownell Huertas. “He was a giver. Everything he got. If you ask him for something, he would give it to you."
One of those gifts has been given to Art Durshimer. ABC Action News witnessed the moment the two families met for the very first time to experience and then share the power of organ donation.
“You are part of our family,” said Brownell Huertas.
“When I hug him, I just felt that peace inside my heart. It was like hugging my son. I cannot explain it, but I feel the sensation that I was feeling when I hug my son,” said Brownell Huertas.
“It’s a good sensation knowing my son is still giving even though he is not present physically, but he is still giving life to someone else who needed it,” said his father Derbin Huertas.
“What this family has given me, what they gave me, the cornea from their son, is a gift I can’t describe,” said Art Durshimer.
“Organ donation you were debating at first. Walk me through what made you change your mind,” said ABC Action News anchor Lauren St. Germain.
“After he left for the Lord, that morning at 8 AM, I called my daughter. Samantha is a nurse in Seattle. I called her and said, ‘Hey, these people are bothering me so much, they don’t understand how I feel. It is so hard, and they asked me if I want to donate his organs.’ She told me, ‘I cannot tell you what to do, but just think about it. How many lives you can save and how many lives you can change,’” said Brownell Huertas.
She continued, “So I told her, 'I am going to pray, I am going to think about it, and we will see.' Then I feel him like he was next to me, like he touch me. I feel his breathing next to my cheek and he told me in a peaceful and mellow tone of voice … ‘mom.’ So every time he want me to do something for him, that was the way he talk to me.”
It was at that moment she knew she had to donate her son’s organs.
“The gift they gave me was the gift of sight, absolutely. They gave me my sight back,” said Durshimer.
Dr. Brian Foster performed Art’s procedure. He said cornea transplants are pretty common. He personally does one or two a week, and the procedure has a very high success rate. The cornea is the clear lens that covers the front of a person’s eye.
“The cornea is unique in that it gets nutrition from the fluid in the eye, so it doesn’t rely on blood for nutrition. It’s an easier process to find organ donors for corneas than other organs,” said Dr. Brian Foster.
“It’s not going to save your life, but it’s definitely going to save your quality of life,” said Durshimer.
This type of transplant is possible through organizations like Lions World Vision Institute.
“We provide sight for those who are blind or visually impaired, and we do that through donation,” said Jason Woody, President and CEO of Lions World Vision Institute.
The nonprofit is a combined eye bank, tissue recovery, and ocular research center. They helped this donation happen, from recovery of the cornea to matching it with a recipient.
“I think our loved ones, if we donate, they are going to continue living. They are going to live. They are going to give life to somebody,” said Brownell Huertas.
“For them enduring such a tragedy of losing a child and having the strength of character to do what they did,” said Durshimer.
“You said your son was a giver. This seems like the ultimate gift he gave to people,” said St. Germain.
“We never talked to him about this because we never thought he was going to leave early. But if we asked him, I know he would have said yes. That was him. I have no doubt that he would have said yes with a smile. We miss him, but I know he lives. We will see him again,” said Derbin Huertas.
Durshimer said this whole experience inspired him to become an organ donor.
To learn more about how to be an organ donor, click here.
