Christian David Lane, born April 4, 1991, with bright blue eyes, long eye lashes and a beautiful angelic face that melted my heart. He was the oldest of 8 grandchildren, the youngest two never got to meet him. He was smart beyond his years, and what we always called an “old soul”. He seemed to understand life before we had a chance to explain how life worked. He was the leader of the of the grandchildren and cared deeply for them. He loved hugs, kisses, playing sports, and being with his family.

In 1998 at age 7 Christian was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. This news rocked our family to the core, but we all band together to make sure he was taken care of. He could no longer have his favorite fast food Taco Bell. He had to learn to give himself shots and check his blood sugar. He hated being different from the other kids so he became very sneaky in how he “injected” himself. He would go in the bathroom to give himself his shots all the while actually shooting the medicine into the toilet. Once we figured out he wasn’t getting his medicine he then came up with another trick, he would pretend to give himself his shot but actually let the medicine leak out onto the floor. Like I said, he was smart beyond his years.

He seemed to do everything in fast forward. Maybe it was because he knew he didn’t have long to be here. My last conversation with him was me asking my silly questions while bringing him, his brother and my son to school every day. I asked him, “what age can you not wait to be?” His response was simply, “I want to be 9 forever.” Never did I think that these innocent words would ring true within 5 days.

He got sick on Wednesday November 8, 2000 and passed away the following Monday November 13, 2000 from Ketoacidosis. He was in a coma when the doctor told us his brain had swelled and crushed his brain stem. This was the biggest blow to my family and we were not prepared for this tragedy. However, even in our grief we knew what he’d want us to do. My whole family has elected to be organ donors. So my sister notified the doctors immediately to donate all of his organs. He ultimately saved many other lives in doing so. One of those recipients was another 9 year old boy with cystic fibrosis. This young man received Christian’s lungs. Another recipient was a war vet that had lost his sight in the war. He received Christian’s beautiful blue eyes. There were other recipients that he helped as well.

In our time of need and grief, this act helped us to get through the pain and know that everything happens for a reason. Our angel was sent to us to be an angel to others.

He is and will always be my hero.