An act of tzedakah: Registering as an organ and tissue donor | Community

“Tzedakah,” both Ken and Jennifer Willmott said when asked about their son, Sammy Willmott. “He had a certain set of rules, kind of like a moral code,” Jennifer added.

One thing Sammy loved — going off-road on his bicycle at Fort Tuthill County Park near Flagstaff. On one of their trips there, Ken recalled how Sammy spent the day teaching some of the younger kids how to ride, even asking others to share their bikes so other kids could ride, too. He spent the whole day with them, even taking them over the smaller jumps.

“I remember one of the kids fell off, and Sammy stopped what he was doing to help the little boy get up off the ground,” Jennifer said, “and he’d call him little nicknames like, ‘Alright, buddy. Let’s go.’”

It’s clear that in his 16 years, he believed everybody had a duty to take care of others.

In April 2020, the Willmott family tragically lost Sammy from an undiagnosed heart condition. Sammy’s kindness didn’t stop there. Just months prior, he had registered as an organ and tissue donor.

“While getting his driver’s license, he made the very generous decision to save and heal lives by registering to be an organ and tissue donor,” said Laura Ramos, manager of Donor Family Engagement at Donor Network of Arizona (DNA). Ramos supported the family during the donation case.

It was a difficult conversation particularly for his mother, but because he had registered and valued the concept of tzedakah, his parents didn’t question what Sammy wanted when it came to saving lives. They simply knew.

Tzedakah, a Hebrew word meaning righteousness but commonly used to signify charitable giving, is typically seen as a moral obligation.

In fact, Judaism encourages organ and tissue donation. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) includes statements in support of donation from nearly 40 faith-based groups on its website, including Judaism:

“Transplantation does not desecrate a body or show lack of respect for the dead, and any delay in burial to facilitate organ donation is respectful of the decedent.”

Sammy saved the lives of four people through organ donation, including a baby through a partial liver donation. He also gave healing to dozens of others through tissue donation.

“He was very loving and compassionate, and spent his whole life helping others,” Ramos said.

Greg Harris is Jewish and has a long history of legal and policy advocacy for organ and tissue donation in Arizona — having partnered with DNA for nearly 30 years.

“Judaism supports and encourages organ and tissue donation,” Harris said. “Its path to support starts with the general obligation to bury a body with all of its parts, yet the general obligation allows donation to save a life.”

Harris has supported the success of Arizona’s donation system in countless ways, including supporting the revision of Arizona’s Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA). Originally passed in 1970, Arizona substantially revised the UAGA in 1996 and again in 2007. This law provides a modern, clear, legal way for people to document their donation decision — called first person authorization.

“The general Jewish rule, based on the principle of k’vod hamet, calls for honor of the deceased body,” Harris said.

And that honor is ingrained in the process of organ recovery. Donors and their families are treated with dignity and respect. There’s a moment of silence before organ recovery in the operating room, and DNA works closely with families throughout the donation process.

“K’vod hamet is a general rule,” Harris said, “but its primacy can be subordinated, including to the principle of pikuach nefesh, or for ‘saving a life.’ Judaism emphasizes that virtually any commandment, law or custom may, and in some cases, must, be set aside to save a life.”

While it is a personal decision to become a registered organ and tissue donor, it remains that there is a moral obligation to our fellow man to do what we can to help save lives and to make this a better world.

“Knowing that that’s what he would have wanted, that’s of course what we did,” Jennifer said. JN

For more information, visit DonateLifeAZ.org.

Damion Mora is an intern at Donor Network of Arizona.