“You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” John Bunyan, author and preacher
Andrew Gard never knew the name of his first medical education teacher.
Nor did he know the person’s habits, memories or favorite color.
But like his classmates, Gard knows the impact that person had on his future.
On Friday, more than 300 people gathered at the Westside Community Center to honor the 120 individuals who donated their bodies to the anatomical gift program, thus becoming the initial link in a medical education chain that touches countless lives.
“While technology has provided us with great tools for learning, it has not, nor will it ever, substitute for the actual study of the human body,” said Gard, vice president of the College of Medicine Class of 2009. “Each of the donors has provided us with an unparalleled opportunity to learn and appreciate the complexity of the human body.”
And their gift of donation lives on, he said. “The education we receive is based on this (life-giving) gift and thus, every patient we care for, every treatment we provide is, in fact, the legacy of the donors.”
The service, organized and run by UNMC’s first-year physician assistant, physical therapy and medical students, included student choral and instrumental performances, a homily by The Rev. Joyce Miller of The Nebraska Medical Center’s pastoral care team and a rose procession with students laying a red rose in honor of each donor. As a closing gift, donor family members received a rose as a symbol of their loved one’s eternal gift.
Becoming an anatomical donor is a “gift of selflessness,” the Rev. Miller said. “It takes tremendous courage to be a gift.”
Thanks to their generosity, future health care providers learn “the magic of a body knit together,” the Rev. Miller said. Anatomical donors “give you the knowledge and the understanding you will carry with you for the rest of your lives.This selfless gift is met with immense gratitude.”
Ann Ramming sat in the front row of Friday’s service to honor her mother, Lurline, who died March 30, 2004, at age 90.
“She always said it’s important to keep on teaching,” her daughter said. “She thought teaching and research was important and the medical center was like family.”
As a child, Ann Ramming remembers her mother bringing her to campus to correct her cleft palate. Her mother later worked as a physician’s receptionist and a hospital volunteer. For a time, Ann Ramming — who also plans to participate in the anatomical program — also worked on campus in geriatrics.
After the service, Jennifer Clauson of Omaha clutched a rose in memory of her mother, Bonnie Vescio, who died March 9, 2004. “She always said when she died she wouldn’t need her body, so why not do some good,” Clauson said.
And Friday, students affirmed the value of each gift.
“In today’s world, these selfless decisions are not routine,” said Chelsie Lammers, president of the physician assistant class of 2007. “They are truly made by unselfish souls.”
“It doesn’t matter what resources, skills, strengths or weaknesses we may have had previously, upon death we are all made equal,” said Kate Harder, president of the UNMC physical therapy class of 2008. “These great people gave us the gift of their body, but their spirit lives on. Their spirit of caring, their spirit of hope and their spirit of teaching will move on in us.”
For more information on anatomical donation, contact the Nebraska Anatomical Board at 559-6249.