Nearly 150 individuals and families participated in Tuesday’s Celebration of Life ceremony, where loved ones who donated an organ, eye, or tissues to those in need were remembered for their selfless and heroic acts.

“This is one of those gatherings that it’s hard to put into words, because it holds so many emotions at once,” said Jeanee Kennedy, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Freeman Health System. “There’s loss, gratitude, there’s heartbreak, and there’s also incredible hope. Tonight is about people, it’s about stories, and it’s about connection.”

Taking place during National Donate Life Month and overseen by a partnership consisting of Freeman, Midwest Transplant Network, Saving Sight, and Mercy Hospital Joplin, the annual ceremony celebrates the donors as well as the individuals whose lives were saved or vastly improved by the gifts of life and health.

“It’s not just about remembering, but also celebrating life, legacies, and the way people continue to impact others even after they are gone,” Kennedy said.

Celebration of Life speaker Jason Langston spoke about his son, Chase Michael, who at the age of 19 died following a 2023 traffic accident. Chase’s generous decision to become an organ donor at such a young age would eventually save more than a few people’s lives.

“When this accident happened, we found out that he’d marked ‘organ donor’” on his Kansas farm permit at the age of 14, Jason said. While teens can register their intent to donate organs between ages 15 to 17, only adults over 18 can legally donate. “Whether he talked them into letting him sign up for that [at age 14], or he pulled the wool over their eyes, I don’t know, but it was something he truly believed in. Just the stories we hear about the amount of people that became donors since his passing, it’s just overwhelming. He touched a lot of lives.”

During the ceremony, names of the men and women who donated their organs, eyes, and tissue were read aloud. One by one, family members participated in two distinct ceremonies—pouring sand into a glass vase in memory of their loved ones and, later outside, blowing bubbles into the wind, symbolizing floating miracles.

Freeman Registered Nurse Laura Wolfshorndl, representing the ceremony’s donor recipients, said her father saved her life when her kidneys failed.

“He gave me his kidney on April 6, and yesterday was the 33^rd year that I’ve had his kidney,” Wolfshorndl said, touching her side. “I know it’s weird to think I have a 78-year-old kidney that’s been to Vietnam.”

Due to recent complications, she received two kidneys from two former Freeman co-workers.

“The first transplant unfortunately failed so another coworker was able to donate. I am very proud that my former Freeman family members were the ones to donate to me,” Wolfshorndl said. “I just want to say thank you for your sacrifice. As a recipient, what you gave up and gave to us matters. We want you to know that we appreciate it, and we’re thinking of you.”