MARBLEHEAD — The town has officially named Feb. 7 Donate Life Day: a day to honor and recognize organ and tissue donations and the donors who made those life-saving decisions.
Before the board approved the proclamation to make Friday Donate Life Day, select board chair Erin Noonan told the room that “there are actually many transplant recipients in Marblehead and many waiting as well on the list.”
One of those transplant recipients is Marblehead native Gary Swain, who received a heart from donor and Veteran Dan Decoteau in Aug. 2021. Swain said his experience was “humbling and terrifying.”
Decoteau was not an organ donor when he passed, but according to Swain, Decoteau’s family “said he was such a loving and giving person that he would have wanted to donate his organs. So they made that decision, and that decision saved my life.”
The Beacon Restaurant’s Have a Heart fundraiser Friday night is in honor of Swain and Decoteau, starting at 4 p.m. with dinner. Reservations are recommended.
Proceeds will go to New England Donor Services. According to Caitlyn Bernabucci, director of community affairs and development, these monetary donations will go toward the public education and outreach campaign and aftercare support for families of donors “to assist with their grief journey.”
The fundraising portion of the evening will begin at 6 p.m., and live music starts at 8 p.m. with The Chris Fitz Band. There will be free parking, silent auction items and a 50/50 raffle.
Bernabucci said outreach events, such as fundraisers like Have a Heart, “call attention to the critical need for more people to register as organ and tissue donors.”
“About half of the population is currently registered, but we know that over 90% of people support the idea of donations, so we really need those people to take action and go ahead and sign up as a donor, either at registerme.org or through the motor vehicle department,” she said.
Swain said it’s important to him that Decoteau is never forgotten and always honored. “He’s my hero,” Swain said. “He didn’t just save my life. He saved three others, two kidneys and a liver, so he saved four lives. It’s incredible what one person can do.”
