Giving the gift of life

The registered dairy cattle industry lost a great patron: one of the biggest cheerleaders and advocates, someone with vision, who pushed the edges and made all of us strive to do just a little better in our own breeding programs.
Michael Heath was a lifelong lover of the Jersey breed, growing up on his family’s registered Jersey farm, Spring Valley Farm, near Westminster, Maryland. More than just a Jersey enthusiast, Michael was a connoisseur of good cows of any color, and his unique approach to breeding cattle impacted the Holstein and Red & White breeds as well.                                                                             
I first came to know Michael and his family nearly 30 years ago, and they were instrumental in converting this Holstein girl to a Jersey lover. My first Jersey, Juno Magic of Billings, was purchased in the second sale Michael hosted, the Maryland Elite Heifer Sale II.
Anyone who knew Michael could appreciate, and likely was in awe of, his keen eye for picking out the good ones, especially when they were a little green, not yet at their prime. Many of us can hear him in our minds, describing one that caught his eye.
Michael loved judging. He once told me it was his absolute favorite thing to do. Michael embraced every judging job, from the smallest county fair to the world’s biggest dairy cattle stages, with the same fervor and enthusiasm.
Michael was known for his colorful reasons.
“She has the shoot-to-the-moon front end.”
“She emulsifies this class.”
The “BING! BANG! BOOM!” that made history as he culminated the 2013 International Red & White Show with a cow named Apple, her clone and her daughter as the final three cows will likely be remembered for all-time; as will his excitement, and his “Air Heath” moment naming his junior champion during the 2012 International Holstein Show.                                
Michael also loved his family, his friends, fishing and good food, and approached all with the same passion as he did everything else.                                 
On St. Patrick’s Day, Michael suffered a farm accident that left him fighting valiantly for his life for nearly a week in a Baltimore hospital. Along with many other members of the global showing family, I found myself fervently praying for God to show us a miracle.
During that week, nearly every post I saw scrolling through social media was a photo of Michael or a memory someone had to share. The underlying theme was the faith and the optimism that our showing family had. No matter how dire the straits, God would answer our prayers and return Michael to all of us.
The memories shared about Michael by our global community were not solely about his acumen for dairy cattle evaluation. Those stories centered around a person who was genuinely kind and caring, one who respected others.
Michael was a product of his family and of the extended Maryland dairy community that shaped his view of the world.
Ultimately God did show us a miracle through Michael. It just wasn’t the one those of us who had the fortune of calling Michael a friend had prayed for. The miracle God chose to grant was to give new hope and new life to many through Michael’s final gift of organ donation.
Michael’s choice to give the gift of life resonates with me. When my dad passed away, we were approached by the hospital about donating. It wasn’t something my dad had ever mentioned, and honestly, it was not something I ever figured I would need to consider that cold and snowy day after Christmas. With only moments to make the decision, my family and I decided Dad, too, would want to do what he could to help someone else, and my dad’s corneas, along with skin and bone tissue, were donated.
During the days that followed, I questioned if we had done the right thing. Two weeks after my dad’s death, we received a letter from the Lions’ Eye Bank telling us my dad’s corneas had given sight to a 13-year-old boy. That was the same age my son was at the time, and I took that as a sign. Two years later, we received a letter from a woman named Patricia, thanking us for the gift of my dad’s bone tissue that had given her back her life, allowing her to regain her mobility and rejoin the workforce as a contributing member of society.                                                                                                                                                        
Since my dad’s donation, I have become hyper-aware of organ donation and how my path has crossed with those who have benefited: skin tissue after serious burns, livers, kidneys, hearts, lungs and bone marrow; and sadly, I had a friend who didn’t get his new heart in time.     
I have been the beneficiary of a donation gift myself. Five years ago, I was involved in a skid loader accident that shattered my tibia plateau and left me non-weight bearing for 90 days. The reconstructive surgery involved the use of donated bone tissue to help my own bone knit back together.                      
It was not surprising someone like Michael had made the decision to reach out and help a stranger in the event of his death. His own family had been affected by the gift of life, given so generously because of the death of another.
Now, because of Michael, countless others will have the opportunity to celebrate another birthday or another holiday or another special life event, even though he no longer has that chance.
I would urge you, as you read this, to be like Michael. Be kind, be genuine and caring, and take the steps to give the greatest gift and make your wishes known as an organ donor. To help someone live on, when you no longer can, is the greatest expression of caring we can make.
To quote another registered dairy cattle industry leader, “Who ever got Michael’s heart, got a good one.”