Chicago Girl Killed In Gang Shootout Saves 6 Lives Through Organ Donation At this point there really isn’t a whole lot you can say about the gun violence in Chicago except that it needs to stop. There have been debates, panels, town halls, speeches and still, African-American blood continues to run the streets of one of America’s biggest cities. It isn’t often that we even get a glimpse of a silver lining when it comes to this subject, and we’re not even sure if this particular story can be classified as such. But we were taken aback by a Chicago-Tribune report about the violent death of 11-year-old Takiya Holmes. Takiya was sitting in a family van with her 3-year-old brother when Antwan Jones opened fire at rival gang members across the street. In typical fashion, Antwan didn’t hit a single one of his targets, yet happened to hit Takiya directly in the temple. Shortly after she was unplugged from life support on Tuesday, Takiya’s organs were donated to 6 people, one “distant” family member and 5 other strangers. Seven of Takiya’s organs were donated following her death on Tuesday — to a distant relative and to strangers she had never met. Someone received her heart, her pancreas, her lungs and her kidneys. Two recipients shared her liver. While the family’s generosity will certainly not completely ease the pain of losing their daughter in the first place, they are aware of the joy they have brought to others. “It brings us peace to know that she’s living in someone else,” said Holmes, adding that Takiya’s mother and father eagerly agreed to the transplants. “The fact that she extended another person’s life and helped give them quality of life, we can live with that.” It took a lot of courage by Takiya’s family to share their child with someone else. Minorities, and African-Americans in particular, are not quick to donate organs. Though 20 percent of all transplant recipients are African-American — the overwhelming majority of them kidney recipients — blacks make up only 16 percent of all donors, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. R.I.P. Takiya Holmes. We offer our prayers and condolences not only to your family and friends, but also to the city of Chicago. Image via Chicago PD/Holmes Family
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Jesus Take The Wheel: Gunned Down 11-Year-Old Chicago Girl Saves 6 Lives After Death
