Student’s life, gift yields hope

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All Jeff Vernon needed was a heart.
Sure, his friends and family will tell you that the guy had more perseverance than most people, that he lived his life encouraging and supporting others, dreaming and reaching goals, writing poetry, directing news broadcasts, becoming well-known for his unfailing integrity, doing more in his 33 years than seems possible to achieve in a lifetime.
But they’ll also tell you that Jeff needed a heart – literally.
Jeff was born Feb. 27, 1966 with a complex heart defect that led doctors to believe he wouldn’t live past his 18th birthday. Yet, despite his handicap, Jeff lived life as if nothing could slow him down.
“He was very hard working, very faithful in everything he attempted to do,” said his mother, Hilde, with a lilting German accent. “Yes, he was very conscientious. Jeff just went above and beyond.”
While studying at CMU to obtain a Bachelor of Applied Arts in broadcast and cinematic arts, Jeff also worked as a senior production student for WCMU TV. He was also a freelance videographer and a video editor at CMU Media Relations and an assistant audio technician for live and recorded radio remotes at WCMU Public Radio.
“He totally ignored his heart defect. He was just normal,” Hilde said.
Mount Pleasant High School teacher Jay Rouman said he got to know Jeff very deeply.
“Jeff was one of my best students and one of my very favorite people. I always enjoyed when he visited and would tell me what he was up to. I was always very, very proud of him and of what he had accomplished. Most of my students will not do a fraction of what Jeff did. Jeff had every reason to complain of being tired and I do not recall him doing that even once. He was always the one who did much more than he was required.”
Marion Phelps, a family friend, said Jeff’s endless service in the areas of his expertise will long be remembered.
“It is also gratifying that (with a heart defect) he was able to complete his education and to use his skill and training in various jobs.”
Jeff graduated from CMU in 1990, tacking on a minor in industrial technology with an electronics emphasis to his B.A.A.
After graduation, Hilde said Jeff worked with the city of Rochester Hills in the Communication Division and performed in all phases of program production and broadcasting with WWTV Channel 9 & 10, out of Cadillac.
In 1996 Jeff was offered a position as newscast director and producer at WAVY 10 in Hampton Roads, Va.
“He was just so happy,” Hilde said, closing her eyes at the memory. “He’d finally reached what he wanted to reach.”
By 1998, however, Jeff was showing signs of congestive heart failure and was admitted to Norfolk General Hospital in Virginia, where he waited for a much needed heart transplant for nine months.
“It was really something. Because of the complex heart situation, they just waited and waited and waited for the perfect (heart). But it just didn’t come,” Hilde said.
“Jeff had bad days just like all of us who waited so long,” said a friend who was in the hospital along with Jeff. “He seemed to handle those days better than the rest of us. I think all of the residents admired his example.”
Hilde and her husband, Ray, stayed in Virginia to be near their son, hoping and waiting for the day he would get what he needed so badly.
“We watched about 20 people leave the hospital with hearts. He was so happy for everybody. But for himself, he just thought, ‘Whatever.’ He wasn’t anxious, he was real relaxed. He was a real believer in God and thought God had a plan,” Hilde said.
“I was very uptight. It was just so … so … enormous. The whole thing was just awful. It was too much,” she said.
While in the hospital, Hilde said Jeff completely rebuilt a computer and spent his time encouraging the other patients, showing obvious pleasure as he watched other patients leave after successful operations.
“He was just fine, just fine, until the end,” she said.
On May 1, 1999, after waiting for nine arduous months, Jeff died.
But what could have been a bitter, resentful time for Hilde and Ray, turned out to be a moment filled with hope and love. Jeff had needed a physical heart – the life-pumping vital organ we often take for granted – but his spiritual heart was so great, his family decided to do what they could to make sure Jeff continued to live on.
Hilde said the attending physician gave the Vernon family the opportunity for Jeff to become a donor of bone and related tissue to several recipients.
“He’s still living on in other people’s lives. He’s still a giver,” Hilde said, looking out of the huge picture window at a local coffee shop, smiling. “He’s just living on. It’s a real good legacy to have.” According to Hilde, 824 Michigan families consented to organ and tissue donation.
“The unselfish actions of these families helped to save hundreds of lives and greatly improve the lives of thousands of others,” she said.
“We never imagined how comforting it would be to know that from our loss, many other families would be able to celebrate life. We never imagined the simple act of saying yes would have on our lives, and the lives of so many others.”
In fact, the Vernon’s just received notification that 61 patients have benefited from Jeff’s donations thus far.
Hilde and Ray have taken up promoting organ and tissue donation as a kind of personal crusade, a way of remembering Jeff and all that he meant to them and so many others and a means for getting out a message Hilde said we all need to hear: Life is precious.
Hilde suggests talking to family members about making the decision to donate at death. Then, willing donors can sign the Michigan Donor Registry by calling the Gift of Life agency of Michigan at 800-482-4881; signing a registration card at a Secretary of State branch office; or simply by signing the back of your driver’s license.
“Our son had been waiting nine months himself for a heart transplant, but died before receiving it. Jeff fought courageously, never giving up hope or losing faith in God. Instead, he spent his time encouraging others the best way he knew how,” Hilde said.
“Jeff watched one after the other receive a heart, yet for himself he was content to wait. He knew that he was in the very best care he could be, he knew God was in control. The crowning act of Jeff’s life was that instead of becoming a donor recipient, he became a donor of bone and tissue.”
Jeff also became a donor of life, which takes the biggest heart of all.