18-year-old Kimber Mills’ final act gives others a second chance at life
Legacy of Hope: Organ donation is one of the simplest ways to make a lasting impact
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Eighteen-year-old Kimber Mills was known for her kindness — the type of person who never hesitated to help someone else.
Even in death, her kindness lives on. Mills may have passed away Tuesday when she was taken off life support at UAB Hospital, but her story doesn’t end there. Instead, it begins again – in the hearts, lungs and lives of others.
Ann Rayburn, director of education for Legacy of Hope, said organ donation is one of the simplest ways to make a lasting impact.
“We do nice things for people every day, right? We hold the door, we say please and thank you. This is an extension of that,” Rayburn said.
Mills’ sister, Ashley, said doctors ran final tests Monday morning before confirming that Kimber’s organs could be donated.
“They did do some tests this morning on her heart and lungs. They may have a donor for both,” she said during a prayer vigil held that evening.
The next day, hospital staff lined the halls at UAB for what’s known as an “honor walk,” a quiet tribute as Mills was wheeled into surgery for organ donation. Her family watched, knowing that through their heartbreak, others would get another chance.
“It was just a lot of tears and hugs and goodbyes and to me it was God’s will,” said Jerrita Hollis, who witnessed the honor walk.
Mills won’t get to walk across the stage at her high school graduation, go to college, get married, or have children. But through her organ donation, she’ll help others live out milestones she never got to experience.
According to Legacy of Hope, one donor can save as many as eight lives through organ donation and heal dozens more through tissue and cornea donations.
“Nationally, there’s about 100,000 people waiting for an organ donation, but in our state we have 1,200 people approximately waiting,” Rayburn said. “What I think about is that each of those numbers is somebody’s sister, mother, father, brother – somebody’s loved one that needs that transplant.”
For families, that knowledge offers a sense of peace – the idea that their loved one’s light hasn’t gone out, but instead lives on through others.
Rayburn said those connections between donor families and recipients often last a lifetime.
“Seeing donor families really become friends of the recipient and their family, and travel to watch the recipient play softball when it’s a child, and invite recipients to be part of a wedding for the donor family – those kinds of lifelong relationships are really impactful,” she said.
For the Mills family, that possibility brings hope – that one day, they might meet the people who carry pieces of Kimber’s spirit within them.
Anyone interested in becoming an organ donor can register online at LegacyofHope.org or simply say “yes” the next time you renew your driver’s license.