Young Petrolia organ donor remembered

The organs of a four-year-old Petrolia boy who died in a tragic accident earlier this month helped save three lives, his mom says.

“I’d never even heard or thought of (organ donation) until we were in the hospital,” said Madison Holley.

“I feel like definitely now I would for myself, and try to encourage more people to do it, for sure,” she said.

Holley arrived home Aug. 10, the day after her son Waylon Sam Pietz’s birthday, and asked the babysitter where he was.

Told he was playing in his room, Holley said she found Pietz under a dresser and without a pulse.

She called 911 and emergency responders restored his breathing, but Pietz had no brain activity after being deprived of oxygen, she said.

He died Aug. 14 in London hospital.

Describing him as a curious, happy boy who loved windmills, Holley said she agreed to donate Pietz’s organs after she was approached in hospital.

“I guess with everything that happened I was trying to see one good thing out of it, you know,” she said, noting Pietz also had autism.

“And then we got a call from Trillium (Gift of Life Network) a week later saying he had three successful transplants and all the kids were alive and doing well. So, he saved three kids.”

His heart went to a boy younger than one, a two-year-old boy received his liver, and his small intestine went to a nine-year-old girl, she said.

The small intestine match was the first in 10 years, she said Trillium officials told her.

While there’s some solace in Pietz’s heroism, his loss is still heartbreaking for her and her family, including two other sons, ages eight and one, she said.

“They’re pretty shook up,” she said. “Everyone’s feeling kind of shock and denial.”

Meanwhile, Holley and Sarnia tattoo shop Knightshade Ink have partnered on a memorial initiative.

The shop has inked dozens of small windmill tattoos in Pietz’s memory, and there are bookings until the end of the month, said Knightshade’s Mel Knight.

Holley, a client, said she and Knight talked over Facebook about the initiative, noting half the proceeds from the tattoos go to her family.

“We want to leave the legacy of giving,” Knight said about why Knightshade is taking park, noting acts of kindness can have a ripple effect.

A visitation and funeral were planned in Petrolia Aug. 27.

Donations also can be made to the Ronald McDonald House in Pietz’s memory, Holley said in a Facebook post.

About 35 per cent of people in Ontario are registered organ donors, and 1,200 were waiting for a transplant as of June 30, according to beaadonor.ca.

Lambton County ranks 15th in the province with a donor registration rate of 57 per cent. Sarnia was 25th, at 55 percent.

[email protected]