Chapter
5

Everyone seemed to be very task oriented at this time. Dr. Quarls came in and asked to speak with me alone. I walked to what seemed to be a dark hallway with her. She said that she needed to have a tough discussion with me about LOPA. My heart sank again.

 

As an ER doctor, I was a big advocate of LOPA which was the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency. Whenever there was an opportunity for one of my patient’s families to be part of an organ donation of their loved one’s body, I was always encouraging families to donate. However, this time I was on the wrong end of this conversation. I was supposed to be the doctor that gives this talk. I wasn’t supposed to be the one that gets the talk. I was again in awe of what was happening. I told Dr. Quarls that we would absolutely want to do this, but that I would verify it with Elna who agreed. Jackson’s eyes and heart valves were later collected and used to give sight to others and to repair broken hearts.

 

Shortly after my discussion with Dr. Quarls, my mom and dad arrived in the ER. My mom said who is it? I held her and my dad close, and I said, “Jackson passed away, and Alex has a skull fracture.” My parents nearly collapsed and just kept yelling “NO. NO. NO.”

 

I wanted to lean in on my parents, but they couldn’t support or care for me. They were devastated.

 

Waylon took me to the side and said, “Eddie, come with me.” He walked me to the doorway to the ER waiting room. He said, “In the ER waiting room are dozens of members of the Body of Christ. They are young and old. They are from your Sunday School class, and they are others that you may not even know. They just want you to know that they love you.”

 

At this I held Waylon tightly and burst out into tears from the depth of my soul. As I cried, Waylon said what I thought was a very strange and stupid statement. He said, “Eddie, don’t lose your faith. Don’t turn away from God.”

 

I remember stopping my crying and scrunching up my face in bewilderment and saying, “Where would I go? He didn’t do this. I need Him more now than ever before.” I remember thinking, “What a dumbass thing for Waylon to say???”

 

However, it wasn’t. It was Godly Wisdom. I’m sure Waylon had seen tragic events in life before that had been a time when people ran from the very thing that could actually save and comfort them. I did not want to be like those people.

 

Psalms 9 (NIV)

 

9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
   a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
   for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

 

 

2 Corinthians 4:8-12 New International Version

 

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.