Simon Grant and Cora Laich. File photo.
The widow of Simon Grant says that organ donation is a miracle to others and is glad she has helped two other people after her husband’s death.
Grant was murdered in his La Ronge restaurant in April, and Cora Laich says donating Simon’s organs to medical science wasn’t an easy decision, but is one she is glade she made.
Laich says that not long after her husband died in hospital, the decision was made to donate what they could. She just recently received a letter from a recipient who said that they were grateful for the lung donation after being on the waiting list for only two days. Laich says the letter went on to say that some people wait for months and sometimes years for the miracle they had been praying for.
Due to legalities within the organ donation program in Saskatchewan, the recipient and donor aren’t allowed to be known to each other, but Laich says she hopes that will change with outreach through the media and social media.
“When I got the letter, it was breathtaking and tear jerking at the same time,” said Laich. “But when I read that the donation was the greatest act of human kindness, it felt good to know someone had a chance at life again.”
Laich said she was surprised to find out her late husband’s lungs were a second lease on life for someone because she said he was an ex-smoker. She had asked Grant to quit when they first met, and she says it was probably one of the hardest things he had ever done.
“To know that his lungs are transplanted in somebody else, Simon would be happy and amazed that this all materialized,” she said.
Laich says at one time, she was apprehensive about organ donation, but now she says her views have changed and she encourages other families to look at it as an option.
“It really is a miracle when you see things like this materialize from it,” she said.