It has been an AMAZING launch week for Purposeful Gift. It has been awesome receiving feedback, encouragement, and having discussions with people about the site, as well as neonatal organ donation in general. We are thankful for all the people who have shared the link to our site and helped spread awareness about the options surrounding neonatal donation. Education and awareness is key. You never know when you will cross paths with someone who is facing neonatal loss. We hope that families who have received a terminal diagnosis will find encouragement and helpful information because of our website.

Not only did we launch our site this week, but I also wrote an update letter for family and friends with an overview of the amazing ways the Lord has worked in Eric and I over the past 10 months, how we have been able to share about Amalya Nathaniel, as well as some of the responses we have received about Amalya’s donations. I thought I would share the update letter here as well:

July 15, 2013
Dear Friends –
It is hard to believe that it has been just over 10 months since we said hello and goodbye to our precious work of the Lord, Amalya Nathaniel. In the past 10 months we have seen some amazing things happen. We thought it was time to write an update letter so we could share some of the exciting ways the Lord has continued to use us and our son.

First, as some of you know, Amalya Nathaniel’s ashes came home at the end of May. He spent a little over 8 months at his “internship” (whole body donation) before he came home. We were thrilled with how long he was able to participate in his internship and serve the medical community. We were blessed to receive a letter from the actual research group that used Amalya explaining all the things they were able to do with him and exactly how he was able to help. In the letter we were told that because of the things they learned while using him, 100’s of pediatric lives will be saved in the future. As his parents we couldn’t be more proud.

We have also been blessed to receive information from the two researchers who received Amalya’s liver and pancreas. It has been so amazing to hear the specifics of how our son’s gifts were used. Typically, when a person donates to research they never receive follow up information or hear how their gift was used. Because of this, receiving feedback was unexpected, but SUCH a blessing. We are truly thankful the Lord allowed us to learn more about our son’s legacy.

Another amazing thing the Lord has done in the past 10 months has been allowing us to publically speak and share our story. In April we spoke in Dayton to about 100 nurses, sharing our story and the specifics about our journey with donation. Also in April we spoke in Newark, NJ to about 120 people from the organization that helped make our donations possible. In May we were able to speak near Scranton, PA to about 90 people from the parent company of the organization that helped make our donations possible. And finally, just last week we spoke in Las Vegas, NV, to about 30 people form 5 different organ procurement organizations representing multiple states. Speaking has given us the opportunity not only to share about our son, explain the blessing of donation and how it has brought us joy, healing, and peace, but also has given us the opportunity to share our faith, love for the Lord, and how our journey became a blessing, not a tragedy. We never expected to be given these opportunities, but are so happy to have been used in this way.

Finally, over the past month or so I (Bethany) have sent a good amount of time creating a webpage about Neonatal Organ Donation. The page is called Purposeful Gift (www.purposefulgift.com) . During our journey we quickly learned that there is not much information available to families about neonatal donation options, and many doctors and members of the medical community do not have/provide accurate information. Due to these and other factors, neonatal donation is currently rare. The goal behind the webpage is to provide accurate information about donation and support families who have received a terminal diagnosis and would like to donate. We would also like doctors to be able to use this as a tool when speaking with families. We hope that this page will be a blessing to others, and hope that other families will be able to experience the joys of donation.
We never imagined the Lord would use us and our son in these ways. We are so blessed. We are thankful to be Amalya’s parents and look forward to seeing how this journey will continue to unfold.

Thank you all for supporting us, even 10 months down the road.
With excitement and joy,
Eric and Bethany