Organ Donor - Chris Bially

Chris was born on August 31st, 1970, the first son of Jim and Pat Bially.

We had waited five long years for this beautiful 7 lb. 4 oz. baby boy.

His brother Andrew was born November 13th, 1972 and our family was complete, We were so pleased and lucky to be the parents of two fine young boys and Our journey became filled with sports, school, friends and many enjoyable times.

In December, 2004, our lives took a very serious turn in the other direction. On December 21st, 2004, our son Chris was taken to Hotel Dieu Hospital and while there was administered a drug, which caused him irreparable harm. He had a Code Blue and when the doctors were able to revive him, serious damage had been done to his brain. The doctors in ICD advised that there was considerable brain damage and, if he recovered, they could not predict what form his life would take, There was the possibility that he may become a vegetable. We spent the next three days and nights at the hospital with a prayer to God to give us a miracle, either restore Chris to his previous self of let us know that there was no hope and help us to make the right decision. His first MRI showed signs of a possible bleed in his brain and by the third day, the second MRI showed his head had filled with blood and there were no visible signs of brain activity. Through the guidance of the Gift of Life representative, Raddi White, we made the decision that if there was no hope of saving Chris, through organ donation, other lives might live.

We were able to donate his liver, kidneys and heart to four recipients. We received word through Gift of Life that all four of the recipients had received the organs and were doing well. We have also been given updates as to the condition of each recipient. This reassures us that we made the right decision in donating Chris' organs. This was not a good Christmas for our family, but we were comforted by the knowledge that it was the best gift the recipients and their families could expect that Christmas.

At the time of his death, Chris was 34 years of age and in good physical condition. He was a father, had a step-son age 10 and a daughter age 5 at the time. His brother and his wife were expecting their first child and when she was born in May, 2005, they paid us the ultimate compliment by naming her Christina after her uncle.

Of course the ultimate wish would be that Chris was still with us and enjoying his children and his niece, but knowing that other lives have been touched by his gift brings us comfort. We were in a position to let Chris give the Gift of Life and that helps our family to continue without him in our lives.