My memory of Valentine’s Day is spending it among the art treasures and history of St. Valentine’s birthplace, Terni, in central Italy. It was just a few months after our seven-year-old son, Nicholas, had been shot in a botched car-jacking attempt while we were driving to Sicily on vacation. We had donated his organs and [...]
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Death, and Hope, in the Middle East
By Reg Green — When the doorbell rang in John Boria’s house in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on August 31, 2004, and he saw three National Guard Air Force colonels standing there, his first thought was that they had come to the wrong address. The second, a moment later, came with sickening force. ”Has something happened [...]
Natasha Richardson’s Family Donates Her Organs, Honors Her Life
By Reg Green – Natasha Richardson’s heart-wrenching death from a skiing accident should explode at least one myth: that donating the organs of a loved one is in some way disrespectful. It’s clear that her family made their decision out of love and that, by helping others, her stature has been enhanced not diminished. And [...]
Film Review: Nicholas’ Gift
By Reg Green – It may seem like the ultimate in narcissism, but my choice for best grief film is a TV movie that was made about my own family. It is called “Nicholas’ Gift” and is the story of how, on a vacation in Italy, our seven-year-old son, Nicholas, was shot in an attempted [...]
Nurse Dispels Myths about Transplantation
By Reg Green – Although Charlette Thompson has looked after cardiac patients in intensive care units in Lexington, Kentucky, hospitals since the 1980s, she has never become accustomed to sudden death. After all these years there is shock in her voice when she describes it. “They’d be looking at you, talking to you, and the [...]
Organ Donation and St. Valentine’s Hometown
By Reg Green – My memory of Valentine’s Day is spending it among the art treasures and history of St. Valentine’s birthplace, Terni, in central Italy. It was just a few months after our seven-year-old son, Nicholas, had been shot in a botched car-jacking attempt while we were driving to Sicily on vacation. We had [...]
Organ Donation Eases Survivors’ Pain
By Reg Green –
Parent of Organ Donor Treated Like Royalty
By Reg Green – Recently, in the restaurant of a Northern Italian hotel, someone in our group told the waiter I was the father of a seven-year-old California boy who was shot in a bungled robbery while we were on vacation in Italy in 1994. From a nearby table, a voice said “Ah, Nicholas.” Tables [...]









