Forrest General Hospital Hosts Flag Dedication in Honor of National Donate Life Month

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - (April 12, 2024) Ed Ruffin, a member of Forrest General Hospital’s Pastoral Care program, and Fred Robinson both know the importance of organ donation, but from different sides. Ruffin is a double kidney transplant recipient, while Robinson’s son was an organ donor.

Both men spoke on Friday, April 12, as Forrest General Hospital hosted a Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) flag dedication at the hospital’s main entrance. The event honored donors and recognized the importance of organ, eye, and tissue donation during National Donate Life Month. April 12 was also a day to observe the month by wearing blue and green, the colors promoting the importance of the Donate Life message to register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor.

The Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) teamed up with Forrest General and other hospital partners across the state to promote National Donate Life Month during April. Throughout the month, they are placing emphasis on the need for individuals of legal age to indicate their desire to donate by signing up on the Mississippi Donor Registry at www.donatelifems.org.

Ruffin, who is also pastor at Plymouth Rock Baptist Church in Hattiesburg and a local hospice chaplain, was placed on dialysis in 2016. During his five-and-one-half years on dialysis, he never had a hospital stay, and it never affected his life on a daily basis, but he grew weary and tired. On July 15, 2022, he got the call he had been waiting on that a kidney was waiting for him. But it wasn’t just one kidney, but two.

“I am blessed,” he said. “It’s a beautiful day to share what God has given me. Almost two years later, I’m living my life. I promised I would help as many people as I could. Families, when you are in the process of losing a loved one, please think about others to carry on the legacy of your loved one. You never know the impact you will have. Donation is not a loss, but a gain to others.”

It’s been 21 years since Robinson’s son, Fred Jr, suffered a massive stroke at the age of 18. His dad said from the age of 2, Fred Jr. was always wanting and willing to help. His family decided to allow him to help one last time through organ donation, donating his heart, lungs, and kidneys. “The Lord laid it on my heart, so it wasn’t that difficult for me,” said his dad, Fred Sr. “I knew other people would be able to live long and productive lives because of that decision.”

“I’m very passionate about organ and tissue donation,” he said. “It gives me great joy and pride talking about my son and the impact he made on extending the lives of five people.”

Robinson and the recipient of Fred Jr.’s heart, Ira Berry, have developed a close bond and even teamed up for a MORA video promoting organ donation. Robinson said they talk several times a week.

In the MORA video, Berry said his heart was weak, and he’d been given a 20 percent life expectancy. “I was very, very ill. I never thought about organ donation until I received his heart. And my whole life changed. I didn’t know what to expect,” Berry says in the video. Now, he and Fred Sr. talk all the time. “That’s my baby all grown up,” said Robinson as he gives a nod to Berry, who he calls from time to time and asks, “How is Fred doing?

“If you choose to donate, it will enrich your life tremendously,” said Robinson.

In 2023, Forrest General Hospital had 15 organ donors with 37 individuals receiving lifesaving organ transplant from those donors. One organ donor can save the life of up to eight individuals. Also in 2023, Forrest General had 44 tissue and eye donors, which is the most ever in a single year. One tissue donation can improve and save the lives of up to 75 individuals from one donation.

“I would like to thank Forrest General Hospital and the families who have given the gift of life. They have had a huge impact on individuals and families in our community over the past year,” said Joel Stevens, MORA representative.

MORA serves 67 counties or 37,296 square miles in the state.

For more information about organ donation, visit forresthealth.org/patients-visitors/organ-tissue-donation and to learn more about Forrest General, visit forrestgeneral.org.