Ames man honored for his organ donation with driver's license office plaque, the 10th in Iowa
The legacy of an Ames man who died almost five years ago lives on in hundreds of people whose lives were saved or improved by his organ and tissue donations, and a new plaque at the driver's license office in Ames placed in his memory is meant to encourage more people to register as donors.
That includes people who've already chosen to be organ donors — maybe they made the choice without much thought on the spot and haven't thought about it since — Joanie Brookes said, "Even if you say yes, it's nice to know what's going if you put yes."
The Ames driver's license office is where Brookes worked when her son, Teddy Perry, was a baby, and it's where Perry got his license.
Perry, 19, died by suicide on Oct. 18, 2017. When doctors told his family that he would not survive, Mary Perry — his grandmother and Brookes' mother — suggested organ donation, and their decision greatly moved health care workers.
“They all cried with us,” Brookes told the Nevada Journal in 2017.
More: After her son died, an Iowa mom is using his legacy to help youth find mental health support
There are other public memorials to Perry — a tree, bench and plaque at Ledges State Park; a bench at the spot along a gravel road north of Nevada where he took his life — but the permanent plaque installed in late June by the Iowa Donor Network and Iowa Department of Transportation at the Ames driver's license office recognizes the lives that Perry's touched in death and is the 10th such plaque at driver's license offices around the state.
Brookes and Perry became volunteers with the Iowa Donor Network after Teddy Perry's death. Brookes said no one in her life has ever needed a transplant, but being an organ donor is something her son had asked her about before his death — though he had not registered to be one when he got his license.
She's met all five of the people whose lives were saved through receipt of Perry's organs: heart, lungs, liver and kidneys.
All five people know one another as well, and Brookes said it's a close-knit group. She walked the bride of one of the kidney recipients down the aisle at their wedding, where the lung recipient's son was the ring bearer.
Brookes said she's glad the plaque will not only encourage people to register as donors but share her son's story.
"It puts more meaning to the question, rather than just yes or no," she said.
She also said it's about more than just organs, but tissue as well. Tissue donations from Perry benefited the lives of more than 130 other people.
Tissue can include grafts from bone, connective tissues and skin.
Other plaques honor donors, recipients around Des Moines metro
Of the more than 1.58 million Iowans who have registered to be organ, eye and tissue donors, 97% of them registered while getting a driver's license, according to a news release from the Iowa Donor Network.
More than 107,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, including almost 600 Iowans, according to the release.
The network and the transportation department collaborate to identify plaque honorees in communities, including deceased donors, living donors or recipients.
The first plaque was placed in February 2020 in Waukee, in honor of Drew Lienemann. Lienemann, 18, died by suicide in January 2016. Within 15 months after his death, 194 people had received his organs and tissue, including two people whose lives were saved.
More: Waukee teen's organ, tissue donations help 194 people
Between November 2020 and August 2021, the next six plaques honored donors and a heart recipient in Council Bluffs, Mason City, Fort Dodge, Fairfield, Waterloo and Marshalltown.
In November 2021, the eighth plaque honored Freddie Windsor — a heart and kidney recipient, and cornea donor — in Des Moines. Though Windsor died in November 2020 waiting for second heart and kidney transplants, his wife, Cindy, told Des Moines Register columnist Rachelle Chase that the first transplants let him have quality of life back that the athlete and stay-at-home dad had been missing since developing congestive heart failure in 2012.
Windsor's corneas gave the gift of sight to two people.
More: Opinion: Freddie Windsor's story can inspire others to become organ donors
The ninth plaque at an Iowa driver's license office was placed in June in Ankeny, in honor of donors Carson and Claire DeJoode.
The DeJoode siblings — Carson, 5, and Claire, 5 months — were killed in 2010 in a car crash when the vehicle their mom was driving was broadsided by another. The crash also injured their mother and 3-year-old brother.
Carson's corneas went to an eye bank; his heart valves to a valve bank; his kidneys to two women; and his liver to a 9-year-old boy.
Claire's heart went to an infant in Utah, whose parents had just been told he didn't have long to live.
More: 600 people are waiting for organ transplants in Iowa. Could that number be greatly reduced?
In Ames, Brookes said she and her family can go visit Perry's plaque as they please.
In addition to during the driver's license registration process, Iowans can sign up to be organ and tissue donors at iowadonornetwork.org/.
How to get help
There are state and national resources for those contemplating suicide, as well as resources for family or friends who may be concerned about a loved one.
Your Life Iowa — call 855-581-8111 or text 855-895-8398 for free 24/7, confidential support. Other resources are available online at yourlifeiowa.org. There is also a live chat function on the website.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline — call 800-273-TALK (8255), also available in Spanish at 888-628-9454, for free 24/7, confidential support. Other resources are available online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Phillip Sitter covers education for the Ames Tribune, including Iowa State University and PreK-12 schools in Ames and elsewhere in Story County. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Ames man's organ donations honored by driver's license office plaque
