Dozens of staff lined the hallway making the route from CHOC Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit to its surgical center, offering silent support as a hospital bed came down the aisle.
A family followed alongside the bed, preparing to give the child it carried a last kiss goodbye before their final act of bravery after a life-ending illness or injury: donating an organ to a stranger in need.
This somber ceremony is CHOC’s “Walk of Honor,” a practice designed to honor CHOC families’ courageous and selfless decision to donate their child’s organs upon their death.
“Our PICU nurses recognize the pain and loneliness these families feel when leaving the hospital without their loved one and are determined to make their last walk out a dignified one,” says Alisa Brown, the PICU’s nurse manager, who helped launch the practice.
As the anniversary of CHOC’s first Walk of Honor approaches, Alisa will speak later this month at the annual symposium for OneLegacy, a nonprofit organ donation advocacy group based in Southern California that works closely with CHOC.
At the upcoming symposium, Alisa will discuss CHOC’s Walk of Honor and a complementary flag-raising ceremony, and how both have impacted CHOC families and staff alike.
Support leaving the hospital
The flag ceremony bookends the Walk of Honor, ensuring that families are supported both when bringing their child to the operating room and when leaving the hospital to begin a new reality without their child.
After they say their final goodbyes and their child is pronounced deceased, the family is escorted by CHOC’s team outside. There, a distinctive flag is raised to commemorate their life-saving gift. A reading and moment of silence punctuate the ceremony. The family also receives a flag to take home.
“This is our way of ensuring that these families are not walking out of the hospital alone and that they are thanked and honored for their courageous gift before leaving CHOC Hospital for the last time,” Alisa says.
The flag flies outside the hospital for a week, serving as a reminder to all who pass below of a CHOC family’s ultimate gift.
“When people see that flag outside, it reminds us why we’re here,” Alisa says. “It’s easy to get caught up in what’s going on in our lives, but this puts everything in perspective.”
Easing grief
The PICU’s goal is to provide the opportunity for organ donation to all families whose child may be eligible.
“One organ donor can save five different lives and it’s something so healing for these families,” Alisa says. “It helps with grieving process. It’s just a really powerful thing.”
The Walk of Honor and flag ceremonies are a small way for CHOC to thank and honor these families and their selfless gift.
Ceremonies are held only with a family’s permission, and the CHOC team works to make them as personal as possible. For example, one family’s ceremony included the child’s favorite music.
“For the families, it changes their memory,” Alisa says. “A mom told me, ‘You gave me a positive memory from the worst day of my life.’”
The surprising impact on staff
The ceremonies have had an unexpected impact on CHOC staff as well.
Processions draw staff from all over the hospital campus and from a range of disciplines, including clinicians, dietary workers, environmental services staff and administrative employees.
“After we did the first ceremony, I had 30 emails and texts from colleagues saying thank you for letting them be part of it,” Alisa says. “We did this to honor the families and to thank them for their courageous gift, but it’s turned out to be a huge, impactful thing for the entire organization. It’s made us more cohesive.”
Both CHOC Hospital and CHOC at Mission Hospital recently earned silver recognition for their efforts to increase organ, eye, and tissue donor registrations, through the 2019 Workplace Partnership for Life (WPFL) Hospital Organ Donation Campaign.
The WPFL is a national initiative that unites the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the organ donation community with workplaces across the nation in spreading the word about the importance of donation.
Learn how to become an organ donor.
