Richmond Hill man honors life-saving donor on National Organ and Tissue Awareness Day

RICHMOND HILL, Ga. (WTOC) - As couples across the country prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day, one Richmond Hill man is marking February 14 in a far more personal way — honoring a stranger he never met, but who saved his life.

Valentine’s Day is also National Organ and Tissue Awareness Day, a time dedicated to recognizing the lifesaving impact of organ donation. According to LifeLink, more than 3,000 people in Georgia alone are currently awaiting a transplant. A single donor has the potential to save up to eight lives.

After 18 months of waiting, Jeff Gregory became one of them.

“It’s the difference between life and death. It really is,” Gregory said. “I can’t put it in any plainer terms than that.”

Gregory was diagnosed with a slow-progressing form of liver disease and spent much of his adult life managing chronic pain. Over time, his condition worsened.

“There just came a point in time where I just started to not feel well again,” he recalled. “I didn’t really know what it meant, but certainly when I went to see the doctor and the doctor then gives you a call on their personal phone saying, ‘Jeff, something’s really wrong. You need to come and see me.’”

Soon after, Gregory learned he would need a liver transplant.

“Once you reach a certain threshold, they say, ‘Okay, now we’re going to place your name on the waiting list,’” he said. “And then you literally wait and you just hope that there’s an organ available before you die.”

For a year and a half, he waited. Then came the call.

“It was just like you see in the movies,” Gregory said. “I got the phone call in the middle of the night and they said, ‘Mr. Gregory, we have found an organ that we think is going to be suitable for you.’”

Today, Gregory says he carries immense gratitude — for his donor and for the team at LifeLink that guided him through the transplant process.

“Our work here at LifeLink is really to guide the donor families through the process as they establish their loved one’s legacy through this gift of donation,” said Kelly Cullen, chief operating officer at LifeLink.

Both Gregory and LifeLink leaders say Valentine’s Day serves as a fitting reminder of the meaning behind organ donation.

“Valentine’s is a day of love, and I think organ donation is the most selfless act of love,” Cullen said. “One of the most important messages we want to share is for people to register and to have those conversations with their families very early.”

For Gregory, National Donor Day is both a celebration and a solemn responsibility.

“National Donor Day is a time to stop and reflect on what that gift means and the responsibility that I have as an organ recipient,” he said.

As hearts and flowers mark the holiday, Gregory hopes people will also consider another symbol of love — the small red heart on a driver’s license that signifies organ donor registration.

It is a simple designation, he says, that can save up to eight lives and leave a legacy far beyond a single day.