As told by her mother, Abbey

During a routine ultrasound when I was 19 weeks pregnant, a doctor discovered and diagnosed our daughter Annie with anencephaly, a condition we were told was “incompatible with life.” As my husband and I looked at the ultrasound pictures, it was so surreal. Every single bit of our baby girl was perfect. We could see her tiny fingers and toes, her little arms and legs, her perfect heart. The only imperfection was the top of her head, and that imperfection would end up stealing her from us. We wanted to carry Annie to full term in the hopes of spending a few precious moments with our sweet daughter.

The day Annie was born was more magnificent than we could have ever imagined. Our little “Pistol Annie”, lived an extraordinary 14 hours and 58 minutes. She spent her entire life surrounded by her family who loved her, and she touched every single person’s heart who met her.

We knew for some time before Annie was born that she was not meant for this earth. Her story has made such an enormous impact emotionally and spiritually on us, our family, and our friends, that it only made sense to us to pursue organ donation and let her make a physical impact on someone as well. My husband and I both felt very strongly about organ donation, and we committed to doing everything possible to honor our daughter in this way. Annie was the very first infant newborn organ donor in the state of Oklahoma, and we are so incredibly proud of her. Although we miss her dearly, we cannot deny the significance of her tiny life and the effect it has had on the world.

(Annie participated in donation for transplant through the gift of heart valves, and donation for research through the gift of lungs, pancreas, intestine, kidneys and liver.)

You can read more about Annie’s story on Abbey’s blog, Tomorrow Will Be Kinder, http://abbeyahern.wordpress.com/.

Annie was also honored on the 2014 Donate Life Float in the Rose Bowl Parade as a Floragraph.