A local mother is passionate about advocating for people to become organ donors.
Markita Lewis opted to donate her son’s organs after he suffered a fatal asthma attack and went into cardiac arrest in May 2014.
She had waited in the hospital for seven days, hoping that her son, Marquis Wood would wake up. After doctors ran a battery of tests, he was pronounced brain dead.
In the midst of her grief, she recalled a conversation with Marquis after she was diagnosed with lupus in 2008. They discussed the possibility of her needing a kidney transplant one day.
“My son told me that I didn’t need no one’s kidney and I could have one of his,” Lewis said. “I remembered the conversation that I had with him and my other two children and I just knew something good had to come out of this. I decided to donate his organs and in doing so he was able to save three lives.”