Michael was born May 8, 1974 and passed away on June 20th, 2000 at the young age of 26! Michael’s precious daughter Gabrielle, was 6 years old and her Daddy’s accident was on Father’s Day 🙁 Michael was such a lover of life and believed so strongly in Organ Donation, that he gave the gift of life to 3 people and enhanced the lives of 29 others, 32 in total! He loved all sports, he and his brother Andrew, especially loved bowling, and had perfect scores to prove it! Michael golfed, played goal in hockey and poker! Unfortunately, Michael’s biggest crutch was his drinking. That is what caused his accident. He fell so hard and never did regain consciousness. Because of the alcohol in his system at the time, we were told he wouldn’t qualify as an organ donor. He would have been devastated if he couldn’t help others in his passing.

He shared with us how proud he was of a friend of his that had donated bone marrow to save a young mother in another Province just a few months before his accident. Michael survived 2 1/2 days on life support, we were all able to see him at peace and the doctors were able to replenish his organs. We could imagine the smile on his face to hear that news! Michael was transferred to Toronto General Hospital where a liver recipient was waiting. The next day we heard a middle aged woman and man received the gift of life from Mike’s kidney donation. My Grandfather was blind, so his corneas helping 2 people see again gave me a tremendous amount of joy! We wish with all we have, that Michael’s recipients would write to us. I’ve written 3 times now and only received a note the first year, even though we both shared how we would like to stay in touch. My husband, Butch, and I pray every day that all of Michael’s recipients are doing well and we are very proud to share our story to promote Organ Donor Awareness!

God Bless from Ontario, Canada
Debbie Blagojevic