At almost 2 years old, Evelyn was a sweet, kind and healthy toddler. “She loved her friends at daycare, Trolls toys, cooking in her kitchen, reading books, playing outside, swimming, and to be cuddled,” says Evelyn’s family. “Evelyn loved and adored everything about life as much as we love and adore her.”
In 2018, Evelyn was picked up from her daycare in Canal Winchester, Ohio to travel to Troy, Ohio and spend the weekend at grandma’s house. Before arriving at grandma’s, Evelyn began to show signs of a stomach bug and before the evening was over Evelyn’s symptoms became worse. Her family decided to take her to a nearby urgent care to assess her for dehydration.
The urgent care diagnosed Evelyn with a stomach flu and sent her home. Through the night and into Saturday, Evelyn continued to decline and eventually an ambulance was called. Evelyn was taken to a regional hospital where she seemed to improve after being given IV fluids, but was eventually transported to Dayton Children’s Hospital for further assessment.
Upon arrival at Dayton Children’s and after further testing was done, it was determined that Evelyn had an uncommon and aggressive form of bacterial meningitis. This form of meningitis was unfortunately not protected by the standard meningitis vaccine that Evelyn had received. Evelyn received around the clock care at Dayton Children's, but sadly the infection had spread too far for treatment to work.
After a few days on life support, Evelyn’s parents, Matt and Kara, decided to donate Evelyn’s organs. “Full of kindness, smiles and a hug for everyone, Evelyn was always a giving person,” says Matt and Kara. “We felt that helping and caring for others was at the core of who Evelyn was, thus, organ donation would have been what Evelyn would have wanted. We wanted any part of Evelyn to live on, helping someone else fighting for their life so to provide them with a better future.”
On August 29, 2018, Evelyn gave the gift of life to two people. Evelyn’s kidneys were donated to a woman who, because of donation, was able to be there for the birth of her first grandchild just two short months later. Evelyn’s liver was donated to an infant just shy of one-year-old. Through Life Connection, Evelyn’s family can stay in touch with the recipients of her organs.
Although Evelyn’s family wanted nothing more than Evelyn’s legacy to live on through the gift of life for another family, they did not come to the decision lightly. “The emotions and reality that go with the decision to make your child an organ donor is extremely complicated, hard to express, and is something we struggle to make sense of even several years later. In less than six days’ time, we went from having a perfectly happy and healthy, sweet little girl, to a child on life support to Evelyn becoming a hero by saving the lives of two people,” says Matt and Kara. Organ donation was just one of the many things the Miller family has done to build a legacy for Evelyn.
Evelyn’s family continues to celebrate her life through the creation of the Evelyn Hazel Miller Foundation where their mission is to support programming that benefits the education, literacy and general wellbeing of children. The foundation has setup “Evie Bear’s Little Libraries” in several communities to bring reading material to children of all ages.
The foundation also raises money to give “Hugs” to kiddos at Dayton Children’s during Christmas and Easter. A “hug” contains a plush stuffed animal, books and crayons for kids that spend a holiday in the hospital.
When asked what they would tell a family going through a similar situation, “The loss of a child is something that no one can prepare for. A mix of sadness, anger, guilt, fear, numbness, disassociation, and more are completely normal feelings.”
“If you are making the choice whether to donate the organs of a loved one, know that whatever you are feeling is ok. We encourage you to start thinking about how you can begin to build a legacy for your loved one, as this is one of the tools you can use to help you navigate the complex world of grief. Organ donation and the “gift of life” can be the first step in this legacy building process.”
To learn more about organ donation you can visit https://www.donatelifeohio.org.
