Health Central nurse gets a second chance at life

In moments of unimaginable grief and overwhelming pain, organ donors and their families selflessly choose to gather the strength and say, “Yes,” to recipients in need of a transplant. 

The gift of life is almost impossible to repay, a feeling Orlando Health — Health Central Hospital critical care nurse John Bowden knows well. 

Bowden fell ill with COVID-19 in July 2021, after serving countless patients on the front lines throughout the pandemic. After a long battle with the disease, his only chance at survival was a lung transplant. 

When Bowden and his wife, Amanda, thought all hope was lost, he was given a second chance at life.

For the first time since receiving his lung transplant, Bowden shared his journey and his gratitude for his organ donor hero at a ceremony held Tuesday, April 16, at Health Central Hospital in Ocoee.

“I don’t feel worthy at all of the life that was given to me; how do you thank somebody for a gift like that?” Bowden asked. “You open the gift of life; I will never be able to thank them as much as they will ever know. I now get to enjoy my second chance. … I get to see my son play in T-ball. I get to see my daughter dance. So, I will do my best to live my life to honor the donor family. Donations do save, and they do help people and give people a second chance.”

NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTH

April is National Donate Life Month — a time where hospitals and communities come together to honor organ and tissue donors. 

Organ donation makes life possible for people such as Bowden. 

Orlando Health, in partnership with OurLegacy, helped to honor Central Florida organ donors with a pinwheel garden and Donate Life Flag Raising at the ceremony. 

According to OurLegacy, last year, 255 Central Floridians gave the gift of life through the donation of a life-saving organ, and more than 40,000 Americans received a life-saving organ transplant in the United States. 

According to Donate Life America, more than 100,000 people are waiting for life-saving organ transplants. Every eight minutes, another person is added to the national transplant waiting list, and 16 people die each day while waiting for an organ transplant. 

Philip Koovakada, senior vice president for the Orlando Health South Central region and president of Health Central Hospital, said 11 donors at Health Central have provided more than 27 others the gift of life in the last three years.

“The Donate Life Flag is a national symbol of unity, remembrance and hope, while also honoring those touched by donation and transplantation,” he said. “It’s events like today where we have the hospital and the communities coming together to not only honor the donors, but celebrate the precious gift of life and educate our community on the importance of registering as an organ donor.”

Kia Blair, OurLegacy manager of multicultural affairs and partnerships, also shared a few words at the ceremony. 

“This month, thousands of hospitals and communities, just like this one, are coming together to raise the Donate Life Flag, and I am honored to be standing here amongst you to recognize the extraordinary miracle of organ, eye and tissue donation,” she said. “Today, we gather not only to celebrate that precious gift of life, but also to express our deepest appreciation to donor heroes, as well as their families, who in their moments of unimaginable grief, selflessly chose to say, ‘Yes,’ to donation. We are in awe of their generosity and the profound impact that they have on the lives of others.”

Blair explained the significant symbolism of the pinwheels and the importance of organ donor education.

“The pinwheel’s ability to capture and pass on that energy is representative of how organ donation works,” she said. “The ability to capture that love, to start that legacy and to pass on that energy. It creates that ripple effect that you hear of; the ripple effect that more lives are saved, more birthdays are happening, more weddings are happening, more graduations are happening — all thanks to our donor heroes and to their families. … Each registered donor serves as a beacon of hope, a shining light in the lives of those awaiting a life-saving transplant, and it is essential for all of us to talk about our decision to be registered donors with our families.”

Bowden never thought he would be walking into the hospital needing the critical care he did. 

“I got sick … my wife brought me into the ER,” he said. “I never thought that I would not return back home for nine months. … We realized the only way for me to survive would be a lung transplant, and because of someone’s heroic efforts, I was given that wish.”

Amanda Bowden, who has worked as a critical care nurse since 2011 at Health Central, said the family’s story is just one of many.

“There are countless stories like ours; stories of hope,” she said. “Prior to my husband’s illness, as a nurse, I have worked alongside grieving families faced with a difficult decision to donate their loved one’s organs. I watched how families who, even when faced with such a devastating loss, choose hope. They chose to let their loved one’s legacy live on with courage that is unmatched. It always inspired me to be a firsthand witness to the strength of the human spirit in those moments.

“While waiting for the call that John had a match, I remember thinking how lucky we must be to have the chance to see this all come full circle,” she said. “Obviously, not lucky to be in the situation that we were in with him in a critical state, but in that moment, as a potential organ transplant recipient, we fully and truly understood just how beautiful this process is. How such selfless acts of donors and their families and the perseverance and strength of waiting recipients come together in a full circle of life, just like the pinwheel.”