MMA fighter donates infant son’s organs after fatal hit and run
Just two days after his 15-month-old son, Liam, was tragically mowed down by a drunk driver in an SUV, mixed martial artist Marcus Kowal decided to donate his baby’s organs.
After doctors declared their son brain-dead, Kowal and his wife opted to take him off on life support on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
With a heavy heart, the MMA fighter took to social media to confirm that they will donate Liam’s heart to “make another child live.
“I am writing this post to ask if there is a child out there we know that needs a heart or any other organ,” Kowal wrote, after doctors informed him that their son’s heart could still be used by someone in need.
“It hurts to write this but Liam loved to share and the person we were going to raise him to be would love to help someone else. So anyone we know, or someone you know, inbox me please,” he added.
According to the California’s Hawthorne Police Department, Liam’s aunt Michel Eder was pushing him in his stroller through a crosswalk when they were unexpectedly hit by the SUV.
The elderly driver, identified as 72-year-old Donna Marie Higgins, was reportedly intoxicated and even tried to flee the scene. Witnesses chased her and formed a vehicular blockade while they waited for the police.
The collision caused Liam’s stroller to break into half, a TIME report said.
“Our hearts are broken and there’s a void in my soul but we will get through this,” Kowal described the pain of losing his child in an earlier Facebook post.
Higgins was later arrested and charged with felony hit-and-run and felony drunk driving. Eder sustained serious injuries, but is now in stable condition.
Kowal’s plead on social media, meanwhile, urged netizens to create an online memorial fund for Liam. As of writing, the fund has raised nearly $95,000, and will beintended for the child’s medical bills and funeral service. Khristian Ibarrola
