Gift of Life: Rose Bowl adds local face

Rachel and Robyn Doiron did just about everything two sisters could do together, and that included applying for driver licenses while in their teens.

Both checked the organ donor boxes on their applications, and no thought to that was given again.

Until the morning of Oct. 3, 2004, when family members rushed to Terrebonne General Medical Center. Robyn, by then 34-years-old, had been critically hurt in a one-car Hollywood Road wreck.

A friend, who was driving, escaped unhurt. Robyn never regained consciousness and died before the next day dawned.

But her loved ones still take comfort in the knowledge that afterward, the vivacious and effervescent purchasing clerk’s stated wishes resulted in new life – and enhanced quality of life – for people she had never met.

Robyn’s gifts will be among those honored Jan. 1 in Pasadena, during the Tournament of Roses Parade. Spectators in the hundreds of thousands along the route and millions of television viewers worldwide will see her likeness among those of 80 other donors gracing the Donate Life Float, whose riders will be people who received organ and tissue donations, escorted by 12 living donors walking alongside.

Rachel and her sister, Rochelle Thibodeaux, and Rochelle’s 17-year-old daughter, Morgan, will watch from the stands as honored guests.

“If you knew her, it would be ironic,” Rachel said of her late sister. “She would know floats, because she loved parades so much.”

Rachel, Rochelle and Morgan personally put the finishing touches on the special likeness of Robyn. Called a floragraph, the image is made of dried flowers, crushed seeds and other organic material. At a ceremony last week, held at Terrebonne General, Robyn’s loved ones applied the material to the portion of the floragraph portrait that includes Robyn’s eyebrows.

“She would say for us to make sure we used something so her makeup is just right and her hair is just right, because she never went anywhere unless her makeup and hair was just right.”

After viewing their handiwork Rachel, Rochelle and Morgan were convinced they had indeed gotten it right.

Now they just have to wait for Jan. 1 and their trip to Pasadena.

Answering a call for honorees about six years ago, Rachel had tried to get Robyn chosen by writing an essay about why her sister should be included in the list of honorees at that year’s parade.

“I guess it wasn’t the right time then,” said Rachel, who was notified this year by organizers that they wanted to include Robyn’s image on the float. “I guess now this is the right time; the right time has come.”

This year’s 81 honorees hail from Massachusetts to Hawaii, as well as Korea and Taiwan. Some donated eyes, others tissue and others organs, as well as combinations of those.

Their floragraphs will “light up the world” as beacons of hope, according to organizers, who say they will be remembered for their generosity and compassion, resulting in lives saved and healed due to their posthumous gifts.

The floragraphs will grace lanterns that will illuminate 30 float riders, all recipients, and a dozen living donors who will walk beside the float on the 5-mile route.

In addition to the flowers and seeds, families of donors and volunteers use grains, spices and other materials for the floragraphs, said Bryan Stewart, chairman of the Donate Life float committee and vice president of communications at OneLegacy, a nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization serving the greater Los Angeles area.

“For many of their families, this is a unique opportunity to see their loved one shine before millions of people worldwide and to gain special recognition for their gifts of life and hope,” Stewart said. “As we enter our second decade in the Rose Parade, we appreciate how parade viewers honor our floragraph honorees with standing ovations and heartfelt appreciation for their life-saving gifts. Through these unique creations, we shine a light on the compassion and generosity of all donors – those who have given life in their passing as well as the 110 million who have signed up on their state donor registries.”

Nationwide, only about 28,000 organs are transplanted each year. As a result, 18 candidates die each day for lack of a donor, according to float organizers, who said a single organ donor “can save the lives of eight people through organ donation, while a single tissue donor can save and heal 50 others through needed heart valves, corneas, skin, bone, and tendons that mend hearts, prevent or cure blindness, heal burns and save limbs. The Rose Parade campaign began as an idea expressed in a letter by lung recipient Gary Foxen of Orange, Calif., who wanted to show gratitude to donors.

The inclusion of Robyn’s floragraph was coordinated by the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency and TGMC.

When LOPA spoke with Robyn’s family about organ donation the night of the wreck, Rachel recalled, there was no doubt about the course the family should take.

“We all knew this was something that she wanted. It was a decision she had made close to 20 years before,” Rachel said during last week’s TGMC ceremony. “We also know because of her kind and generous heart, she would want to help others in any way, especially if it meant saving lives and sparing pain to their families.”

LOPA has strict rules regarding contact between recipients and families of donors; Each must consent before introductions are made.

Rachel knows that Robyn’s gifts included five major organs, including heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. Her eyes were also used as well as various other types of tissue.

“There is a lady in Mississippi I have written back and forth to,” Rachel said.

A man in Ohio was a kidney recipient. He and Rachel met several years ago.

“He came down to visit and we email each other back and forth. He is on my Facebook.”

The experience of meeting donors who have benefitted from Robyn’s gifts is something Rachel describes as “humbling.”

TGMC and LOPA officials note that each organ donor can save up to eight lives, and that with nearly 121,000 people across the country waiting for organs, “each donor truly counts.”

“Robyn’s gift stands as a testament to the importance of organ donation,” explained TGMC’s CEO Phyllis Peoples. “On average, more than 150 patients die in Louisiana each year because not enough organs are available. We hope Robyn’s story will inspire others to give the gift of life this holiday season.”

A LOPA representative said people with questions about the donation process can visit their Web site www.lopa.org or call 800-521-GIVE (4483).

Rochelle Doiron, her sister Rachel Thibodeaux and Rochelle’s daughter, Morgan Thiboeaux (pictured below), display the completed floragraph of Rachel and Rochelle’s late sister, Robyn Doiron, at Terrebonne General Medical Center. The floragraph will be displayed at the upcoming Tournament of Roses Parade in Sacramento on Jan. 1 on the Donate Life float. Last year’s float, at right, had a similar theme.

COURTESY PHOTO