Eric's Story

Organ donor Eric's story, as shared by his wife, Ruth.

Eric was the love of my life.

Our families had been friends since mine moved to Menominee in 1936. We went to the same church. His mother was my Sunday school teacher, his parents' wedding was the first I ever attended, and we grew up as close family friends.

Over the years, we lost touch. However, last year we reconnected when he returned home to Wisconsin after living in Atlanta the past 30-plus years. Immediately, we became good friends once again. We had no intention of falling in love, but sometimes there is another plan other than our own.

Eric asked me to marry him and we decided to get married on 12/12/12 at 12pm, thinking this would be a cool anniversary date. However, by April, we became impatient and Eric suggested we move the date up. We were married on 6/12/12 at 12pm surrounded by our family and friends. We knew, from the bottom of our hearts, that God brought us together for a reason and gave us the happiness and love that neither one of us had ever had.

We had a great summer together. Eric enjoyed anything outdoors, especially kayaking. We bought matching kayaks, and I did kayak fitness training in order to keep up with him. We were like two 30- or 40-year-old people, always ready with our next great adventure planned.

We were married for less than 10 weeks when Eric fell at home on August 21, 2012. Due to his traumatic injury, he was transferred to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where it was established that he would not make it.

Eric had just received his new driver's license and he had selected to be an organ donor, which I honored. He was always a person that wanted to help; he enjoyed giving his time, energy, and resources to help others. They were able to use his organs, and he helped 50 to 100 people with tissue and bone donations.

The day before the accident, Eric and I went to Green Bay to visit with my cousin. She took this picture of us (at left), and thank goodness for pictures, as this would be our last picture together. Eric is sadly missed by his family and friends, and we are happy that his memory will live on in pictures as well as in the lives of others he has saved.