She was just a girl with a decision to make. And the one she made gave life to five. Katie Caples' family brings awareness of a choice we all can make, and what one gift can really do.
* By JOY BATTEH-FREIHA
* Story updated at 5:21 PM on Monday, Apr. 13, 2009
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Katie Caples
Bruce Lipsky
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RAISING AWARENESS: Dave Caples, of the Katie Caples Foundation, named for his late daughter, and Amy Reese, of Life Quest Organ Recovery Services, give a presentation on organ and tissue donation.
Bruce Lipsky
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BRUCE LIPSKY/Times-Union file
RAISING FUNDS: Cyclists line up for the fourth annual Katie Ride for Life in Fernandina Beach on April 19, 2008. According to its Web site, the Katie Caples Foundation was set up by the family of Katie Caples, a high school student whose decision to become an organ donor saved five lives when she lost her own.
THE KATIE RIDE FOR LIFE
Where: The Recreational Center on Atlantic Avenue in Fernandina Beach.
When: Saturday. Check-in is at 6 a.m.
More info: You may register online or on event day at 6 a.m. The walk through Fort Clinch begins at 9 a.m.
BECOME A DONOR For information on how you can become an organ and tissue donor, call LifeQuest (800) 535-GIVE or visit www.lifequestfla.org.
The unthinkable happened to Amelia Island residents David and Susan Caples in the spring of 1998.
They got a call no parent wants: Their eldest daughter, 17-year-old Katie, a junior at Bishop Kenny High School at the time, had been in a fatal automobile accident.
Anguish, distress and what felt like insurmountable pain followed the horrifying news about the passing of their beloved daughter.
"Words can't describe the amount of emotions we were experiencing at the time," said David. "No one plans for something like this."
But Katie did.
When applying for her learner's driving permit, Katie indicated she wanted to be an organ donor.
"I remember exactly when Katie got her learner's permit and her decision to become an organ donor," said Caples. "We talked about it in advance."
However, when the time did come, Caples said he didn't recall his daughter's wishes until the hospital's organ procurement representatives brought it to the family's attention.
"There was never a question of whether or not we would honor Katie's wishes, it just wasn't on our minds at that moment," Caples said. "Once they [organ procurement representatives] sat down with us, our only questions were how do we do this and what steps are needed."
Caples said it was the feeling of perpetuating Katie's memory through a decision she made a couple of years earlier that helped to ease the family's grief. Katie's organs and tissues saved the lives of five people.
Touched by his daughter's tragedy, Caples realized another tragedy - the alarming lack of awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donations.
"There isn't a shortage of organs, just a shortage of organ donations," Caples explained.
That's when he and his family decided to pull from their own experiences to help increase awareness of organ and tissue donations, and in 1998, established the Katie Caples Foundation in honor of their daughter's legacy and her willingness to be an organ donor.
Today, the foundation partners with the LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services, an organ procurement program affiliated with the University of Florida and Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, to provide yearly scholarships and increase donor awareness.
Since 2005, the foundation has hosted its signature fundraising event, The Katie Ride for Life. The bike tour of Amelia Island is scheduled for Saturday. Also, for the first time, the annual cycling event is offering a 10k and 5k walk through Fort Clinch State Park.
Proceeds raised from the bike ride/walk will be used to promote organ and tissue donor awareness and to underwrite Decision Donation, a donor education program aimed at high school students in Northeast Florida.
The Jacksonville Mayo Clinic Transplant Center is the presenting sponsor of this year's event.
"It's our absolute pleasure and honor to be a part of the Katie Ride for Life," said Thomas Gonwa, chair of Mayo's Transplant Department. "Our physicians and staff work tirelessly to help those waiting for a lifesaving organ, but we rely heavily on the kindness of others and their gift of life through organ donation to give our patients the chance to live a healthy life."
Currently, there are more than 100,000 Americans on the national organ transplant waiting list, with approximately 3,000 from Florida.
joy.batteh-freiha@jacksonville.
com, (904) 359-4058
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