“A Journey of Life, Death…and Life Renewed”

By Lynn Kirk

The family of Jamie Knight is on a journey. A personal pilgrimage of ups and downs, good and bad, despair and hope. And, in spite of their closeness, each family member is in a different place on the journey, each traveling a different way and learning to support the others’ paths. Though their experience began six years ago, it continues every day with no end in sight. It is the journey of a family’s life - one that actually began with a young man’s death.

The First Leg of the Journey –
A Tragic Death

Jamie Knight’s stint in the Navy, which included a nuclear power study program, confirmed his long-term educational goal. He hoped eventually to achieve an engineering degree from VCU, and he worked two part-time jobs in financial preparation. Not the typical 21-year-old bachelor, Jamie adored children and assisted at Richmond Child Development Center. He also entered a management-training program with a popular restaurant chain. Parents Jeannie and David Knight speak proudly of their third son and his many endeavors. “Jamie was always thinking of other people,” shares Jeannie, a teacher at Spring Meadow Waldorf School. “He was always giving back.”

Imagine the family’s shock and pain when, at 12:42 a.m. on January 30, 1997, a phone call interrupted their sleep and shattered their lives. Jamie Knight had been shot during an attempted robbery while closing his restaurant shift. “He had called me a couple hours earlier,” shares Jeannie. “And, the last thing he ever told me was, ‘I love you, Mom.’”

Jeannie and David, a priest who serves as associate rector at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, rushed to MCV Hospital with heavy hearts. The physicians told them it was hopeless, since a bullet had lodged in Jamie’s brain. Their son died ten hours after the family’s arrival. Older brother Stephen remembers it all as a “great big blur.”

The Second Leg of the Journey –
A Heartfelt Gift

Organ donation had never been discussed in the Knight household. According to David, “It just never was an issue.” However, once Jamie was declared legally brain dead, both David and his wife simultaneously knew that donation of Jamie’s organs and tissues was the appropriate thing to do. David recalls, “It seemed like the natural progression.” Stephen and his two other brothers agree that organ and tissue donation was important to their family’s healing. ”After all,” he ponders, “Jamie’s mind could not live without his body…but his body could live without his mind.” With eyes full of tears, Jeannie adds, “My soul was becoming unraveled…but that unraveling stopped when we made that decision. I just didn’t want him to go. I wanted something to be left of my son.”

And something precious was left behind: a healthy heart, two kidneys, a liver, two corneas and various other tissues. Within two weeks LifeNet, Virginia’s organ and tissue donation agency, notified the Knights that 28 different people had benefited immediately from their selfless act of generosity. Jeannie believes, “It was a win-win for all.”

Today’s Journey –
Sharing the Need

There is no question that the Knight family still grieves. They miss their son, on many days and in lots of ways. But, they adamantly assert that talking about him is truly a blessing – a part of their journey during a long-term healing process. That’s why the family remains committed to the cause of organ and tissue donation. They regularly attend LifeNet events with other donor families and transplant recipients, participate in speaking engagements with hospital personnel, and share their memories in interviews, a documentary for high school students and the book Healing the Spirit. “We want to let people know how organ and tissue donation helped us,” declares David. “We can educate others from the donor family’s perspective. And, we can share that organ donation can bring hope into one’s own life, even after tragedy. After all, this was a painful reminder that this kind of thing can happen to anyone!”

When asked if conflict exists between religion and organ donation, David confidently responds as a knowledgeable priest. “Nothing in scripture or in Jesus’ ministry denounces organ donation. In the theology of creation, God gave life to us…and [in death] we can give life back to others. I think it’s just good stewardship.” Stephen agrees, smiling as he adds, “Hey, even Adam donated a rib to create someone else!”

Richmond and Winchester, the family’s hometown, remember Jamie Knight in numerous ways. Two collegiate scholarships and two playgrounds bear his name. However, no one remembers Jamie like the 28 recipients of his organs and tissues…those whose lives were personally enhanced or renewed.

What would Jamie think about it all? Jeannie doesn’t hesitate to answer. Nodding her head, she declares, “He would say, ‘Do it again, Mom!’”

And she would.

 

< Back to Stories of hope