Love in Every Stitch

Thank you to the Gift of Life Donor Program for partnership in life-saving organ donation. In honor of donors and donor families, Gift of Life presented a one-of-a-kind quilt to ChristianaCare. Each unique square tells the story of the life of a donor who gave others a second chance at life.

The quilt hangs in the A/B corridor on the atrium level of Christiana Hospital. With deep gratitude, we honor these organ donors and their families:

• Thomas “Cody” Bader.
• Peter Michael DiSabatino.
• Ivan E. Edmunds.
• Cindy L. Kelly.
• Rodney Mann.
• Dennis Mattson.
• Richard J. Myers.
• Samantha Vinc.

Each square is crafted by the donor’s family with special cloth, carefully selected colors, photos and other meaningful representations of the life of their loved one. Here are the stories behind some of the ChristianaCare quilt squares:

Thomas “Cody” Bader’s mother shared: “My son, my baby boy … I think of him every day. I also think of the four people whose lives he saved. I always wish he was here and not in heaven; sometimes it feels like he is.”

With a quote from G. Peter Michael DiSabatino, his quilt square remembers his love of family and sports, and how he made lives “so much brighter.”

Dennis Mattson’s quilt square is “a memory of the many things he loved – having fun, being goofy while still being a caring, loving family man – a husband, father brother, uncle pop-pop and friend to many.”

Richard J. Myers is remembered as “a man who started a foundation to give to children in need at Christmastime. He then turned the event into a bike run, donating toys to the children at A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital and funds to a family in need of help with medical bills. This is a man who would literally give the shirt off his back to someone in need.”

The donation of an organ or tissue is perhaps the greatest gift of life and health that a person can give. Anyone who is 18 years of age or older may legally state his or her desire to be an organ, tissue or body donor.

The Threads of Love memorial quilt project began in 2000 at the recommendation of a donor family as a way of commemorating loved ones for organ, tissue and cornea donations.

“Every family whose loved one is a donor through Gift of Life has the opportunity to make a quilt square that will become part of our beautiful collection of Threads of Love memorial quilts,” said Richard Hasz, president and CEO, Gift of Life Donor Program.

“We remember our donor heroes and their generous families with appreciation every day and we join in gratitude with those who have received a second chance at life through donation at ChristianaCare.”

The Threads of Love program has received hundreds of colorful squares that have been made into more than 90 quilts since 2000.

At the National Donor Remembrance Ceremony in 2004, families were encouraged to bring a quilt square with them to add to the memorial quilt.

“Over the years we received more and more quilt squares from our donor families. From those squares we have created over 80 Threads of Love Memorial quilts. We join in gratitude with those who have received a second chance at life through organ donation at ChristianaCare.”

Click here to learn more about the Threads of Love quilt and the Gift of Life Donor Program.