The heart is not the only organ in the spotlight today.

Along with Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14 also is National Donor Day, a time when Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) tries to publicize the importance of registering as an organ donor and remind people how easy it is to do so at a PennDOT driver license center or by visiting core.org/register online.

“Celebrated along with Valentine's Day, National Donor Day is a special time to consider giving the gift of life by registering as an organ, tissue and cornea donor,” said Susan Stuart, CORE CEO. “It's also a time to recognize loved ones who have given the gift of organ or tissue donation, have received a transplant, or are currently waiting for one.”

Today holds extra meaning for Laurie and Alan Grady, of Renfrew, who recently welcomed Michael Dean and his wife, Tasha, into their home after Dean received a kidney and pancreas from the Gradys’ 21-year-old-son, Jacob, an organ donor who died after a snowmobile accident on New Year’s Eve in 2020.

On Feb. 3, the Gradys met Dean, a retired police officer in his 50s from the Washington, D.C., area, at their home. Shortly after retiring, Dean unexpectedly fell ill. He learned that he would need a transplant. Jacob's gift gave him a second chance at life.

Katelynn Metz, marketing and communications coordinator at CORE, accompanied the Deans during the visit.

Metz said Jacob was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where his kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas and corneas were recovered.

One of his corneas went into the left eye of 8-year-old James McGowan, also of the Washington, D.C., area.

Dean, who is diabetic, was a day away from having to undergo dialysis, Laurie Grady said.

She said the Deans arrived for dinner Feb. 3 and returned for a second visit the next day before making the return trip to the nation’s capital.

“They stayed from 5 to 9 the first day and from 3 to 9 the second day,” she said.

“Both the recipient and the donor families wanted to reach out to the other,” Metz said. “The Deans made the trip up from D.C. They came for dinner and stayed in the area for the weekend.”

In addition to herself and the Gradys, Metz said the meeting was attended by Jacob’s brother, Johnathan; his grandmother, Sally Hallock, and her boyfriend and his aunt and uncle, Kristi and Tim Held.

“We shared stories about Jacob,” Laurie Grady said. “Everybody’s different with different reactions. Michael Dean and my husband wear their emotions on their sleeve. They are very emotional.

“CORE is my outlet. Do I get emotional? Absolutely,” she said.

Johnathan Grady said, “Before the Deans came to our house, I felt nervous and excited at the same time. With them here in person, it was going to hurt, but my brother was living in 51 people.”

As Johnathan Grady said, his brother has gifted 51 people through his recovered organs, tissue, skin grafts and veins.

“My brother’s legacy is still living. He will never be forgotten. I’m very proud of him,” he said. He said he is happy that Michael Dean will be able to spend more time with his grandchildren because of Jacob’s gift.

“I reached out to all of the recipients about three months after Jacob passed,” Laurie Grady said. “I got a card from the Deans five or six months later. We set up a meeting by phone in June for July.”

After that date fell through, Grady said the February weekend was chosen.

Grady said the only other recipient she’s heard back from was James, the 8-year-old boy. “My son’s left cornea is in his left eye.” Because the risk of organ rejection is higher in pediatric transplants, James only received one cornea. But Grady said she has video showing James, who previously could only see light and dark, learning to spell words and tell the difference between colors.

Grady said she was grateful to CORE for setting up the meeting with the Deans.

“I think it is something both parties had to do,” she said. “I would meet with every recipient if I could.”

It is not mandatory for recipient and donor families to meet, but Metz said it can be beneficial to both parties.

“We always encourage the recipients to reach out. We have a team of specially trained nurses to bring the donors and recipients together so it’s a positive experience for both of them,” she said.

“The donor family wants people to know they find comfort in knowing someone they loved has lived on,” Metz said. “At the meeting they want to talk about the loved one who is no longer with them.”

And for the organ recipient, it’s good for them to dispel any irrational feeling of guilt they may have.

“They are alive because somebody didn’t live,” Metz said. “They may have some guilt, but there is no reason for them to.”

Laurie Grady said experiences in her and her husband’s pasts have led them to be organ donors.

“We had conversations with our children about why it was a good idea to be a donor,” she said. “I think it is important to have this conversation with your family and children. I think it is a subject we should be more open about and more people should be organ donors.”

She added they have plans to visit with the Deans again when the Gradys vacation in Virginia later this year.

CORE is one of 57 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations in the United States, serving nearly five million people in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, N.Y.

CORE coordinates the recovery and matching of organs, tissues and corneas for transplant within its service region, and works to create a culture of donation within the hospitals and communities it serves.

According to CORE, every 10 minutes someone is told they need a lifesaving transplant. With more than 100,000 people across the U.S. waiting for a transplant, nearly 20 will die each day, making the need for more registered organ and tissue donors a public health crisis.

One person can save the lives of eight by donating organs and heal the lives of 75 through tissue donation. Anyone can sign up to be a donor, regardless of age or medical history.

Metz said CORE’s mission is to save and heal lives through donation, ultimately ending the deaths of those on the transplant waiting list, while maintaining integrity for the donation process, dignity for the donors and compassion for their families.

There are more than 150 hospitals and health care facilities in CORE’s service area acting as referral sites for potential donors. Seven of the hospitals also perform organ transplants, including Allegheny General Hospital, UPMC Children’s Hospital, UPMC Presbyterian and VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

For more information, visit www.core.org or call 1-800-DONORS-7 or 1-800-366-6777.