Frisco is home to countless selfless individuals willing to put others before themselves. Local resident and teacher Reid Barker was able to pay it forward through organ donation after his wife Lisa’s life was miraculously saved by organ donation just years before.
“My organ donation journey is one that began in 2014. My wife, Lisa, was suddenly and unexpectedly diagnosed with a one-in-a-million liver condition that caused her to go into acute liver failure. She was estimated to have only 20-48 hours left to live if she did not receive a transplant. On February 6, 2014, she received a healthy liver from a 15-year-old, Courtney Ray Sterling. Courtney’s dad, Michael, had made the selfless decision to donate his daughter’s organs after she was left brain dead from a terrible car wreck,” Mr. Barker explains.
The Barkers instantly gained a different perspective on life and organ donation, and in December 2018, Mr. Barker decided to pay forward the gift of life by donating a kidney to one of his friends/former coworkers, Jon Putnam, from Pioneer Heritage Middle School. “Our surgeries took place on December 11, 2018, in Houston, and we are both doing incredibly months after the donation,” Mr. Barker says.
The Barkers’ hope in their organ donation journey is to encourage others to carry hope in their sufferings. “We hope by sharing the story of our hero, Courtney Ray Sterling, others will see that ripple effect of organ donation and keep pushing forward.”