Connelly Left Warm Memories; Challenged Others to Give the Gift of Life

Lisa Connelly loved children, adored animals and treasured a good book.

"She didn't like to see people down or upset and she refused to watch commercials for abused or neglected animals," says Amy Smith, her older sister. "She could not bear it. She was such a compassionate person. Lisa was smart and intelligent."

She also cared deeply about her students, co-workers and complete strangers. Connelly, 37, was an associate director in the UC College of Medicine Department of Medical Education. She passed away after suffering a heart attack in November 2015. Her memory lives on in those she touched, but so also do her kidneys, lungs and liver. They now provide life to others because Connelly and her family supported organ donation.

Students in the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy and the College of Medicine were inspired by Connelly's story. They named a week-long competition, April 4-8, between the two colleges designed to encourage organ donation "The Lisa Connelly Organ Donation Awareness Challenge."  During an April 8 closing ceremony, family and friends gathered in a lecture hall in the Medical Sciences Building to remember Connelly.  That room is where Connelly proctored exams for COM students.

The College of Pharmacy, with 39.9 percent of students now registered for organ donation, edged out the College of Medicine, which reported 38.7 percent of its students as registered organ donors.  Craig Furnish, a third-year pharmacy student, says he's pleased the College of Medicine joined the event, which initially started a year ago among pharmacy students. He worked closely with Rachel Tonnis, a first-year medical student, and Rita Alloway, PharmD, a faculty advisor and research professor of nephrology to make the organ donation challenge a success.

"These are students who have registered as organ donors in the past or have recently signed up for organ donation," says Furnish. "Our goal is to expand and add Nursing and Allied Health Sciences next year so more people can give the gift of life."

Smith says Connelly's lungs now provide oxygen for a 60-year-old New Jersey woman. 

"We have a heartfelt letter from her. She said she was to the point she couldn't leave the house any more. She had people doing everyday tasks for her like going to the grocery store. She missed one of her daughters' wedding and bridal shower because her breathing was so difficult and getting worse. She has four children and is a grandmother of four. She wrote and said no words can express her gratitude and that she was up to walking over a mile."

One of Connelly's kidneys was given to a 4-year-old boy who suffered from cists on his kidney while a second kidney went to a 23-year-old women with diabetes, who sent a beautiful card and gift to Connelly's family. The last organ recipient is a chef who has been married for 24 years, has two children and received Connelly's liver.

"It has brought us comfort to receive the letters and knowing that she has been able to help these people," explains Smith. 

Smith offered thanks to the students who decided to name their challenge after her sister.  She also remembered the kindness of staff at LifeCenter Organ Donation Network when her family was trying to decide whether organ donation was something they could live with. The family wasn't pressured and staff at LifeCenter answered all the hard questions and gave them the freedom to make choices they were comfortable with.

"Lisa didn't have an organ donation sticker on her current license but she had had them on ones in the past," said Smith. "At first there was a little split on what to do. There were so many emotions and mixed feelings at a time like this. The thought of giving any part of her to someone else was hard to grasp because in reality we were grasping to hold on to any part of her we could.

"Our grandma had been an organ recipient in the 1980s," says Smith. "She had received a call she was going to be getting a new kidney. My mom said how happy grandma was to be getting that kidney. So we knew the happiness and the hope other families might feel in receiving a call that my grandmother had gotten. My dad said the only thing that would help the horrific situation was knowing that in losing Lisa someone else would get the gift of life."

Connelly left a 4-year-old son, Levi, whom Smith described as "the height" of her sister's life. "She loved that child more than words can express," says Smith. "Lisa loved big at heart and she gave so much to her family and friends. She gave to strangers. Lisa had so many circles of friends and was constantly doing stuff for people.  For me it wasn't until she was in that hospital on that ventilator that I realized how big she loved. During those days, she had a sea of people coming in and out to see her. As they spoke, we were hearing testimony after testimony of all the kind of things she had done and many recent things, not years ago, but during the past few months."

Connelly while out to lunch with co-workers jumped up to buy a police officer lunch just as an act of kindness, says Smith. She would send flowers to old friends who lost loved ones and once offered an envelope of money to a homeless women on the street corner because she was desperately in need of help. "These were just few of the stories that were told," says Smith.

Telly Kools, Connelly's finance, says he will miss her smile.

"She was a giving, extremely smart women who touched everyone around her. She always believed in helping someone in need and never asking for anything in return," says Kools. "The day this terrible tragedy happened to our family was also the beginning of hope for others that they could live a full life. 

"If you had a child who needed an organ would you give them yours?" asked Kools.  "My answer would be yes because of the love you have for your child. I believe this is the same reason someone should consider being a donor. One day it may save the life of someone's child, mother, sister or father. Because of Lisa I am an organ donor. She made me realize that giving is one of the purposes we are on this earth."