Through organ donations, teenager 'gave life to so many'

By Susan Passi-Klaus*

Whenever Betty Chaffin sees the Rev. John Hastings, she asks if she can put her ear on his chest and listen to the sound of his heart.

The strong lub-dub, lub-dub indicates that the 71-year-old Hastings is alive and very well. It's also a reminder that Chaffin's late grandson, Andru Chaffin, lives on with every beat of Hastings' transplanted heart.

"It just makes me feel good to know that Andru's heart is still beating and living and that his whole body gave life and hope to so many other people," said Chaffin who lives in Sublette, Kan. "When Andru died we donated his heart, his lungs, liver, pancreas and his eyes."

The 15-year-old died in 1997 after an accident on his four-wheeler. His family agrees that Hastings, father of four and grandpa to 10, is the perfect steward of the teenager's heart.

"The year Andru would have graduated from high school, John called and said that even though Andru wouldn't be there, his heart would be," Chaffin said. "He came to graduation, and so many of Andru's friends wanted their picture taken with him."

'I'm blessed'
Hastings doesn't fit any stereotypes of a retiree in his 70s.

He's a feisty, straight-talking, pokin' fun kind of a guy. He's the kind of grandparent who serves up ice cream for breakfast and the kind of preacher who begins every sermon at the Elmdale and Strong City United Methodist churches in Kansas with a good joke or tattled tale.

"I wake up looking forward to every day," Hastings said. "People say to me, 'You're the luckiest guy I've ever met,' and I say, 'I'm not lucky, I'm blessed.'"

Prior to being diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 1997, Hastings was an avid snow skier, a fast walker and a man who'd run up the steps in hospitals when visiting patients.

He's a man on the go again - especially when it comes to running the 200-meter dash and the 1,500-meter race walk. This past summer, he brought home gold and silver medals from the 2006 U.S. Transplant Games in Louisville, Ky.

Hastings often speaks to groups and at health fairs, talking tough about the importance of organ donation.

"Seventeen people a day in America die from the lack of an organ," he said. "Chances are they could live if they had one."

When talking to reluctant donors, Hastings sometimes uses "shock tactics."

"I've said to people, 'Why don't you sign your donor card?' and they say, 'No, I don't want to give up any of my organs.' And then I say, 'If one of your family members was dying, wouldn't you let them have an organ transplant?' 'Oh yeah,' they say."

"'If everybody has that attitude,' I said, 'where would the organ come from? It's OK for others to donate, but not OK for you?'"

Special Sunday
On Sunday, Nov. 12, United Methodists will observe Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday. Timed to emphasize gratitude and thanksgiving for life, many churches will pass out pamphlets or supply members with organ donor cards. Some people will hear firsthand how organ and tissue transplants both save lives and honor the lives of the donors.

"Just imagine," Hastings said, "being able to give someone the gift of life. Wouldn't that be something?"

*Passi-Klaus of Nashville, Tenn., is a freelance writer and publisher of Cracked Pots, an inspirational newsletter for women. This article originally appeared in Interpreter, a publication of United Methodist Communications and the official ministry magazine of the United Methodist Church, www.interpretermagazine.org.