BRANDY'S STORYIn September 1997 our beautiful 18-year-old daughter was in a car accident that took her life. Brandy Ann Hicks was a very special young lady and our only child. She was spoiled and she knew it, but she was such a wonderful child, never giving us a minute's trouble. She was a "people person" with friends from six months old to 93 years. Brandy Ann was always thinking of others and she was loved by many. It is difficult for me to put into words what I want everyone to know about Brandy. God blessed us with a very special little girl.
On her 16th birthday she got her driver's license. We had her take driver's education in high school and as a result she attended a class on organ donation. Well, "Miss Priss", as I often called her, bounced through the front door of our house that day and said, "Momma, I am going to donate my organs!" It caught me so off guard, I looked at her like she was a crazy person. This was my daughter, my only child - I told her I did not want to have this conversation. I assured her that I would be gone long before her. Nevertheless, she insisted, saying, "Now, Momma, if anything happens to me I want to donate my organs - please donate my organs." So, we started to talk about it. The more she talked, the more interested I became and got caught up in her enthusiasm.
Well, when Brandy was in the car accident, the doctor told us her chances were "slim to none". He went on to say, "Have you considered organ donation?" With everything that had happened, we just didn't want to talk about that then. The car wreck occurred on a Friday night. We stayed up all night at the hospital and the following morning at 9:30 a.m. the doctor came and told us that Brandy was brain dead and that she was gone. Again, he asked, "Have you thought about organ donation?" Recalling our conversation about donation and her firm belief in it, we said yes.
Brandy Ann's heart now beats in the chest of a lady in Mississippi. Her liver saved the life of a man in Tennessee and one of her kidneys and her pancreas went to a gentleman in North Carolina. Her other kidney is with a young woman in her thirties. I have had contact with three of the four people that Brandy Ann saved by donating her organs. It is a joy to know that our baby girl saved their lives by being so loving and kind. I can't begin to tell you how bad it hurts not to have her with us. I don't think we will ever get over the death of our daughter and what our loss has done to our hearts. But, she taught us so much in her 18 years that has made us better people. It was and will continue to be an honor and privilege to love her.
