Sarah Gray: How my son's short life made a lasting difference
Sarah Gray: Come la breve vita di mio figlio ha lasciato un'impronta duratura
Sarah Gray found meaning in tragic loss by donating the organs of her newborn son to advance scientific research. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
siamo andati a fare la seconda ecografia.
went to my second sonogram.
we had a higher risk
eravamo maggiormente a rischio
the standard birth defects,
i classici difetti congeniti,
that we were about to face.
che stavamo per affrontare.
that one of our twins, Thomas,
uno dei due gemelli, Thomas,
called anencephaly.
chiamato anencefalia.
was not formed correctly
non era formato correttamente
typically die in utero
di solito muoiono nell'utero
or days of being born.
o giorni dalla nascita.
as far as the doctor could tell,
per quanto il dottore potesse dire,
how this could have possibly happened,
questo fosse potuto accadere,
was not impossible,
non fosse impossibile,
for the healthy twin and for me,
per me e il gemello sano,
the pregnancy to term.
a termine la gravidanza.
with two trimesters ahead of me,
con due trimestri davanti a me,
my blood pressure and my stress.
la pressione sanguigna e lo stress.
point a loaded gun at you for six months.
ospite con una pistola carica verso di me.
the barrel of that gun for so long
la canna di quella pistola
at the end of the tunnel.
per prevenire la tragedia,
to prevent the tragedy,
affinché la breve vita di Thomas
for Thomas's brief life
eye and tissue donation.
di organi, occhi e tessuti.
organ-procurement organization,
locale per la donazione organi,
Transplant Community.
Transplant Community.
troppo piccolo alla nascita
at birth to donate for transplant,
you could be rejected for that.
buon candidato da donare per la ricerca.
a good candidate to donate for research.
in una nuova luce,
la vittima di una malattia.
chiave per sbloccare un mistero medico.
to unlock a medical mystery.
and they were both born alive.
e sono nati entrambi vivi.
the top part of his skull,
la parte superiore del cranio,
like a normal baby,
come un bambino normale,
tra le braccia di Ross
un furgone a casa nostra
National Medical Center.
National Medical Center.
that the recovery was a success,
che il recupero era stato un successo,
would be going to four different places.
sarebbero andate in quattro posti diversi.
to Duke University.
alla Duke University.
company called Cytonet in Durham.
terapia cellulare Cynotet di Durham.
to Schepens Eye Research Institute,
Schepens Eye Research Institute,
Harvard Medical School,
alla University of Pennsylvania.
to the University of Pennsylvania.
with our immediate family,
con i parenti stretti,
questo capitolo della nostra vita.
closed this chapter in our lives.
what's happening now?
cosa sta succedendo ora?
to a grief retreat,
ad un raduno di lutto,
15 other grieving families
altre 15 famiglie in lutto
organs for transplant.
dei loro cari da trapiantare.
ricevuto delle lettere
their loved one's organs,
gli organi dei loro cari,
se avevano firmato una liberatoria,
could even meet each other
scrivere una lettera o riceverne una
I thought maybe I could write a letter
and learn about what happened.
che questo iter
donato per un trapianto.
for people who donate for transplant.
del trapianto, credo.
I had transplant envy, I guess.
iniziava con: "Caro ricercatore."
why they requested infant retinas
avessero richiesto delle retine di neonato
visitare il loro laboratorio.
could visit their lab.
that arranged the donation,
che ha organizzato la donazione,
alla persona giusta.
send it to the right person.
never done this before,
mai fatto prima,
e l'avrebbero spedita.
and they would deliver it.
della University of Pennsylvania.
of the University of Pennsylvania.
il retinoblastoma,
that she is studying retinoblastoma,
che colpisce i bambini sotto i 5 anni,
under the age of five,
a visitare il suo laboratorio.
we were invited to visit her lab.
quello che avevamo provato,
imagine how we felt,
the ultimate sacrifice,
il sacrificio estremo,
to feel indebted to us.
in debito con noi.
"Nulla contro la sua ricerca,
e il sistema ha scelto la sua ricerca."
and the system chose your study.
bad things happen to children every day,
cose brutte ai bambini ogni giorno,
be buried in the ground right now.
sotto terra ora.
a new layer of meaning.
un nuovo senso.
per aver usato questo tessuto."
about using this tissue."
for this tissue six years earlier
per questo tessuto sei anni prima
Research Interchange.
Research Interchange.
that fit her criteria,
corrispondente ai criteri,
to come visit the lab,
per la visita al laboratorio,
which was the twins' fifth birthday.
che era il quinto compleanno dei gemelli.
some pictures of Thomas and Callum,
alcune foto di Thomas e Callum,
questa maglietta via posta.
we received this T-shirt in the mail.
and I piled in the car
ci siamo messi in macchina
le avevo detto di non sentirsi in colpa,
not to feel guilty, that it was a relief,
dalla nostra prospettiva.
from our perspective.
had a secret code name.
un nome in codice segreto.
is called HeLa,
è chiamata HeLa,
360esimo campione
un documento unico,
from DC to Philadelphia.
da Washington a Philadelphia.
is like an heirloom to us now.
è come un cimelio di famiglia.
or a wedding certificate might be.
o un certificato di matrimonio.
Thomas's retina and his RNA
la retina di Thomas e il suo RNA,
that causes tumor formation,
che causa la formazione del tumore,
that were based on RES 360.
basati su RES 360.
that she still has
che ha ancora
avrebbe potuto riceverne altri.
when she might get more.
abbiamo pranzato assieme,
with a birthday gift.
a Callum un regalo di compleanno.
simple messages today.
oggi ho due messaggi semplici.
don't think about donating to research.
non pensano a donare per la ricerca.
I think I'm a normal person.
Credo di essere una persona normale.
esperienza e la raccomando,
and I recommend it,
with human tissue
and about the family,
e la sua famiglia,
che ci state lavorando,
tell them what you're working on,
il vostro laboratorio,
molto più gratificante per voi
even more gratifying for you
una di queste visite,
in arranging one of these visits,
della mia famiglia
all four facilities
tutte e quattro le strutture
le donazioni di Thomas.
che fanno lavori entusiasmanti.
doing inspiring work.
is that Thomas got into Harvard,
Thomas è entrato ad Harvard,
in order to do their job.
per poter fare il loro lavoro.
brief and insignificant
breve ed insignificante
everlasting and relevant.
possa essere così rilevante.
can be as relevant.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sarah Gray - Researchers' dream donatorSarah Gray found meaning in tragic loss by donating the organs of her newborn son to advance scientific research.
Why you should listen
While struggling to cope with the loss of their infant son Thomas, Sarah Gray and her family met the researchers who received his eye, liver and cord blood donations. This journey garnered national and international media attention and brought profound peace to the Gray family.
Gray is the director of marketing and public affairs for the American Association of Tissue Banks and a member of the AATB Donor Family Guidance Document Committee. She is author of a forthcoming memoir from HarperOne, A Life Everlasting: The Extraordinary Story of One Boy's Gift to Medical Science.
Gray holds a BA in Communications from Marquette University and a Masters in Public Communication from American University, where her capstone topic was nondirected kidney donation. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband Ross and children, Callum and Jocelyn.
Sarah Gray | Speaker | TED.com