Deborah Johnson of Londonderry spoke about her involvement with NEDS following the death of her husband Daniel in August 2016. Telegraph photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON

NASHUA – Kathleen O’Brien of Rye and Deborah Johnson of Londonderry shared the tragic stories of losing their husbands and then finding solace through the act of organ donation during the Feb. 13 event hosted by New England Donor Services.

Sharing her story, O’Brien said she had just gotten home from grocery shopping on the night of Jan. 2, 2023 when her life changed forever.

“I came home and found my husband Shawn dead on the floor,” she said.

Soon thereafter, NEDS contacted her to discuss organ donation. Although it was an extremely difficult conversation to have, O’Brien said she was “left with a sense of hope.” While she still had to manage the funeral arrangements, donating Shawn’s organs was something she did not have to worry about — NEDS took care of that.

As a result, 19 people received tissue and bone from Shawn.

Kathleen O'Brien of Rye spoke about her involvement with NEDS following the death of her husband Shawn in January 2023. Telegraph photo by CHRISTOPHER ROBERSON

In August 2016, Johnson and her family were camping at Mt. Moosilauke when her husband Daniel began having a seizure. The couple and their three children were in the heart of the White Mountains with no cell phone service. Therefore, a considerable amount of time had passed before they could call for help and get Daniel airlifted to a hospital.

Johnson said it was later determined that her husband, who was 43 at time, had suffered a brain aneurysm and was put on life support.

During that time, Johnson’s children reminded her what Daniel had told them. He said that if anything should ever happen, he would want his organs to be donated.

“That helped us say goodbye,” said Johnson. “It was his decision, he lives on through these amazing gifts.”

John Marasco, director of the state Department of Motor Vehicles, said his employees, regardless of how busy they may be, are responsible for inquiring about organ donation.

“It’s incumbent upon us to slow the process down a little bit,” he said. “That one checkpoint leads to a greater number of people wanting to donate.”

Because of a change in state law, Marasco said that once a person registers as a donor, their registration will renew automatically.

Since 2020, the number of organ donors registered with NEDS has grown by 80 percent.

Last year, the organization received the organs of 648 donors resulting in 1,570 life-saving transplants. NEDS is now one of the top three organ procurement organizations in the nation.