Sarah Gray: How my son's short life made a lasting difference
Sarah Gray: Impactul pe care l-a avut viaţa scurtă a fiului meu
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.
went to my second sonogram.
am mers la a doua ecogramă.
we had a higher risk
însemna un risc mai mare
the standard birth defects,
defectele obișnuite de naștere
that we were about to face.
pe care urma să-l înfruntăm.
that one of our twins, Thomas,
că unul dintre gemenii noștri, Thomas,
called anencephaly.
numit anencefalie.
was not formed correctly
nu s-a format corespunzător,
typically die in utero
de obicei mor în uter
or days of being born.
sau zile de la naștere.
as far as the doctor could tell,
din spusele doctorului
how this could have possibly happened,
modul în care acest lucru s-a intâmplat,
was not impossible,
nu era imposibilă,
for the healthy twin and for me,
pentru geamănul sănătos și pentru mine,
the pregnancy to term.
sarcina la capăt.
with two trimesters ahead of me,
cu două trimestre înainte,
my blood pressure and my stress.
presiunea sangvină și nivelul de stres.
point a loaded gun at you for six months.
amenința cu o armă timp de 6 luni.
the barrel of that gun for so long
țeava acelei arme pentru atât de mult timp
at the end of the tunnel.
la capătul tunelului.
to prevent the tragedy,
pentru a preveni această tragedie,
for Thomas's brief life
în care viața scurtă
eye and tissue donation.
despre donarea ochilor și a țesuturilor.
organ-procurement organization,
de procurare a organelor,
Transplant Community.
at birth to donate for transplant,
ca să doneze pentru transplant
you could be rejected for that.
a good candidate to donate for research.
ca să doneze pentru cercetare.
to unlock a medical mystery.
răspuns la un mister medical.
and they were both born alive.
și erau amândoi în viață.
the top part of his skull,
partea superioară a craniului,
like a normal baby,
să ne țină de degete ca un copil normal
în brațele lui Ross,
care au trimis o dubă la casa noastră
National Medical Center.
Children's National Medical Center.
that the recovery was a success,
că recuperarea a fost un succes
would be going to four different places.
vor merge în patru locuri diferite.
va merge la Universitatea Duke,
to Duke University.
company called Cytonet in Durham.
numită Cytonet din Durham,
to Schepens Eye Research Institute,
de cercetare Schepens Eye,
to the University of Pennsylvania.
la Universitatea Pennsylvania.
with our immediate family,
o înmormântare cu rudele apropiate,
closed this chapter in our lives.
acest capitol al vieților noatre.
what's happening now?
ce se întâmplă acum?
un eveniment pentru familiile îndurerate
to a grief retreat,
15 other grieving families
astfel de familii
organs for transplant.
celor dragi pentru transplanturi.
their loved one's organs,
could even meet each other
I thought maybe I could write a letter
m-am gândit că le-aș putea scrie
and learn about what happened.
for people who donate for transplant.
doar pentru cei care au donat
I had transplant envy, I guess.
Eram geloasă pe transplanturi, cred.
un loc de muncă în domeniu.
why they requested infant retinas
de ce au cerut retinele unui bebeluş
şi i-am mai întrebat
could visit their lab.
le-ar putea vizita laboratorul.
that arranged the donation,
celor care au aranjat donaţia,
şi i-am intrebat
send it to the right person.
persoanei potrivite.
never done this before,
ceva asemănător
and they would deliver it.
of the University of Pennsylvania.
de la Universitatea Pennsylvania.
that she is studying retinoblastoma,
că studia retinoblastomul,
under the age of five,
sub vârsta de 5 ani
we were invited to visit her lab.
să-i vizităm laboratorul.
imagine how we felt,
the ultimate sacrifice,
to feel indebted to us.
„N-am nimic împotriva studiului tău,
and the system chose your study.
şi sistemul a ales studiul tău.
bad things happen to children every day,
lucruri rele în fiecare zi
be buried in the ground right now.
în pământ acum.
de a participa la studiul tău
a new layer of meaning.
about using this tissue."
pentru folosirea acelor ţesuturi.”
for this tissue six years earlier
aceste ţesuturi cu 6 ani în urmă
Research Interchange.
Research Interchange.
that fit her criteria,
care îndeplinea criteriile ei
to come visit the lab,
aveam să-i vizitez laboratorul
which was the twins' fifth birthday.
a cincea zi de naştere a gemenilor.
some pictures of Thomas and Callum,
câteva poze cu Thomas şi Callum
we received this T-shirt in the mail.
am primit acest tricou.
Ross, Callum şi cu mine
and I piled in the car
not to feel guilty, that it was a relief,
când i-am spus să nu se simtă vinovată
from our perspective.
had a secret code name.
avea un nume de cod secret.
is called HeLa,
este numită HeLa,
al 360-lea specimen,
from DC to Philadelphia.
din DC la Philadelphia.
is like an heirloom to us now.
ca o moştenire pentru noi acum.
or a wedding certificate might be.
sau un certificat de căsătorie.
Thomas's retina and his RNA
retina şi ARN-ul lui Thomas
that causes tumor formation,
care cauzează apariţia tumorii
that were based on RES 360.
bazate pe RES 360.
that she still has
pe care încă le are
when she might get more.
ar putea primi mai multe.
în camera de conferinţe,
am luat prânzul împreună
with a birthday gift.
un cadou de aniversare lui Callum.
simple messages today.
am două mesaje simple.
don't think about donating to research.
nu se gândesc să doneze pentru cercetare.
I think I'm a normal person.
cred că sunt o persoană obişnuită.
and I recommend it,
şi o recomand,
with human tissue
cu ţesuturile umane
and about the family,
şi familia sa,
tell them what you're working on,
spune-le că lucrezi cu ea
even more gratifying for you
mai placută pentru tine
in arranging one of these visits,
să aranjaţi o asemenea vizită,
all four facilities
toate cele 4 centre
doing inspiring work.
care fac o treabă impresionantă.
is that Thomas got into Harvard,
Thomas a ajuns la Harvard,
in order to do their job.
pentru a-şi face treaba.
brief and insignificant
scurtă şi nesemnificativă
everlasting and relevant.
veşnică şi relevantă.
va fi la fel de relevantă.
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