A Thanksgiving Day wish keeps giving after Erin's passing
National Donate Life Month
Katie Ammon of Francestown (at right) shows a picture of her late sister, Erin Thomas, while speaking during an event to honor organ donor recipients and families at the State House in Concord on April 7, 2025.
Kate Ammon of Francestown will never forget the holiday table on Thanksgiving Day 2017 when her 'baby' sister, Erin Thomas of South Carolina, shared her greatest joy was becoming an organ donor.
Less than three months later, Thomas, 42, sustained a fall down a flight of stairs in Boston after coming north to celebrate her favorite team, the New England Patriots, playing in the Super Bowl.
The traumatic brain injury she suffered led to Thomas's death three days later.
Thomas's family got to fulfill her greatest wish — and then some.
One part of her liver was donated to a seriously ill adult living in Vermont.
The other half saved a 1-year-old Cape Cod boy who had spent nearly his entire life in the hospital.
'It makes me feel good to know she has helped others and that is exactly what she wanted,' Ammon said of her sister, who she called a 'sunshine soul.'
Over seven years, the family has received letters and emails with thanks from many who live on thanks to donations from Thomas.
Flanked by leaders in the donation movement, Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a proclamation Monday declaring April to be Donate Life Month in New Hampshire as similar events took place all over the country.
Ayotte flashed her own driver's license with the heart logo confirming she was an organ donor.
'You can do that right as you apply for a license. It is a very good thing to give back,' Ayotte said at the ceremony in the Executive Council chambers.
Alex Glazier, president and CEO of New England Donor Services (NEDS), said the number of annual donors in the region has grown by 80% since 2020, but they remain rare.
'Only about 3% of deaths have a medical opportunity for donation,' Glazier said.
In 2024, donations from 648 people in New England who died resulted in 1,570 life-saving transplants, said Matt Boger, director of government relations with NEDS.
State motor vehicle offices are where 95% of organ donation statements get signed.
'Making magic'
N.H. DMV Director John Morasco credited his staff with 'making magic' with 54% of license holders here electing to be donors, above the national average.
Two changes have made the program more lasting and fulfilling, Morasco said.
National Donate Life Month
Gov. Kelly Ayotte holds up her driver's license to show the heart symbol which indicates her consent to be an organ donor during an event to honor donor recipients and families at the State House in Concord on April 7, 2025.
A motorist used to decide on donation every five years when they renewed a license. If they forgot, they came off the list.
Now, anyone who signs up as a donor remains one for life unless they exercise the right, at any time, to ask that they come off it.
Another legal change now allows those left behind to see the signature on the donor card of the loved one who donated.
'This is something tangible they can see at their time of greatest need and can really provide comfort,' Morasco said.
Ammon said her father, 87, and mother, 80, appreciate her advocacy, especially since Thomas wasn't their first child to die who then became a donor.
In 1967, Ammon 1½ when her older brother, Andrew, 4, died after open heart surgery for a defect that had not previously been found.
Researchers used Andrew's donated heart to save others like him in the future.
'My parents got a letter about a year later that thanks to the donation they were able to do successful heart surgery on another baby,' Ammon added.
'They live on, and in that way it really helps those of us they leave behind to grieve.'
To learn more about organ donation, open to all regardless of age or health, visit the NEDS website or follow the program on LinkedIn or on X.
klandrigan@unionleader.com
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