Shauna's Hope

Shauna Kaufman died in an automobile accident in June of this year. In her honor a new program is being put in place in Delaware.

New Policy Supports Life-Saving Donations in Delaware

Shauna Kaufman recently wrote a poem where she compared her actions to ripples in the water, noting how they seem to continue endlessly and how they can affect others. She hoped that her actions, in turn, would produce positive ripples.

On June 18, 2009, Shauna’s life was tragically cut short, following a car accident that occurred in southern Delaware. But legacy of the 17-year-old will in fact create positive outcomes for countless others, thanks to a policy aimed to facilitate the life-saving opportunity of organ donation.

“Shauna’s Hope” is a new policy enacted by Delaware’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), in cooperation with the Kaufman family – her parents Ian and Amy, and sister Holly – along with Gift of Life Donor Program – the nonprofit organ procurement organization that covers Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.

At the time of her death, Shauna’s family looked to honor her wishes to be an organ donor, but unfortunately, the call to Gift of Life was made too late for the donation opportunity to occur.

As part of this new policy, the OCME mandates that Gift of Life be contacted in the instance of every scene death that meets certain criteria. This collaborative effort will ensure that a timely referral is made and will therefore preserve the donation opportunity for every person.

“Shauna was a remarkable young woman who always looked to help others and treated every person equally,” Amy Kaufman said. “The ‘Shauna’s Hope’ policy continues her passion by making the world a better place not only through organ and tissue donation but through the kindness and compassion that the policy allows for the newly bereaved.”

The OCME has shown a tremendous amount of support toward this measure, signifying its commitment both to those who have made the decision to be organ donors, and those who are waiting for the gift of life.

“Our primary responsibility is to be a voice for the deceased and to ensure that medical and legal issues are appropriately addressed. However, we have a societal responsibility to enhance the health of citizens and administer a key role in the transplantation process,” OCME Deputy Director Hal Brown said. “Enabling increased levels of transplantation through ‘Shauna's Hope’ is one of the few opportunities we have to directly save and improve lives.”

Gift of Life, as an organization, remains committed to facilitating every possible donation opportunity, as the means of helping those waiting for a life-saving transplant. Currently, in this region alone, nearly 6,000 people are waiting for the gift of life – joining the more than 100,000 people nationwide.

“We believe that every person deserves the opportunity to be a donor, no matter what the circumstances are,” said Richard D. Hasz, Gift of Life’s vice president of clinical services. “The state’s OCME and coroner’s offices have been dedicated partners in our efforts for many years, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration with the new policy. We hope that other medical examiners and coroners throughout our region see this as a stellar example and enact similar policies.”

About Gift of Life Donor Program: Since 1974, Gift of Life has served as the link between donors and patients awaiting life-saving transplants in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. In that tenure, the OPO has coordinated more than 28,000 life-saving organ transplants and hundreds of thousands of tissue transplants.

For more information on organ and tissue donation, please call the Gift of Life at 1-800-DONORS-1 or visit its website, www.donors1.org.

What better way could there be to honor the life on one so young but so very wise? The gift of life is one we all should revere.

Peace.