‘The gift of life’: Organ donor recipient thriving after nearly 20 years
By Bill Schammert
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OMAHA, Neb. (KETV) — In Nebraska more than 800,000 people are registered organ donors, according to Live on Nebraska. But that means there are hundreds of thousands of people who are not registered as donors.
Caroline Hogue is living proof of the difference organ donation can make.
“It’s been different levels of an uphill battle and downhill battle,” said Hogue, a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “But that’s just kind of what’s made Nebraska home for us.”
As Hogue walks to and from classes, she passes under many signs that display the University’s motto: In our grit, our glory.
Few embody Nebraska grit quite like this South Carolina native.
“I just really love that kind of Nebraska nice,” she said.
Hogue first met Nebraska nice when she was a baby. It’s a time she only knows through stories.
“When my parents went to Nebraska Medicine, they felt the most at ease and at home with the practitioners,” she said.
On Sept. 8, 2006, Hogue underwent a small bowel transplant at Nebraska Medicine.
She was 1 year old.
“In my opinion, it is the premiere place, and I’m proud to say we’ve done more pediatric transplants like this than anyone else,” said Pattie Turner, a nurse and transplant coordinator at Nebraska Medicine.
In 2006, she was the one who called Hogue’s parents to let them know they had a donor.
“We actually know nothing about my donor,” Hogue said. “All we know is that it could’ve been an infant, just due to my size.”
Turner has helped coordinate Hogue’s care for nearly two decades. She’s followed her journey from the operating room to a shining college student.
“They want the best for you — it goes so far beyond just taking care of you in a medical sense — they really want to see you thrive,” Hogue said.
Turner takes immense pride in the work the medical team accomplishes.
“Seeing a baby become an adult — she’s going to school, she’s out there living a beautiful life — it’s like the best indication that we all did OK,” Turner said. “We all did okay with this one.”
And if Caroline Hogue’s name sounds familiar, maybe it is.
Hogue’s dad, Matt Hogue, is the former athletic director for Coastal Carolina.
In 2016, the underdog Chanticleers made a surprising run to the College World Series. The Hogues, very familiar and appreciative of the work at Nebraska Medicine, brought the entire team to visit pediatric patients at the hospital.
“It was a great thing for kids in the hospital in the thick of being sick — to see Caroline and her family here under such fun circumstances — it was huge to them,” Turner said.
Caroline’s journey and the journey of those pediatric patients served as a bit of an inspiration for the eventual 2016 CWS Champions.
“We have a very big connection to Omaha,” Caroline said. “Not just in the way we feel with Nebraska Medicine, but also we feel like we’ve made the city our own.”
And when it came time to pick a college, Caroline chose her second home, but tacked on 40. She moved from South Carolina to Lincoln, Nebraska.
She’s majoring in global studies at UNL and wants to get into international politics.
“I’ve always loved writing for change and seeing that I can make a difference in the world, no matter how big or small,” she said.
“Every time we see a patient who does well, we are so proud of them,” Turner said. “Obviously, their parents are very proud of them, but I think behind their parents is probably us in the back corner cheering for them.”
And in Caroline’s grit, she’s found glory in spreading hope and a lifesaving message.
“I like to tell people, ‘When you go into the DMV and you get the heart on your license, it’s really just giving someone else the gift of life,'” she said. “It’s so good how one small act of kindness can bloom into something really beautiful.”
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