Cristopher (Crist) Wechsler

Crist was born February 28, 1976 in Rock Island, Illinois and he passed away June 15, 2004 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He married a wonderful young woman, Stephanie Newstrum, May 24, 2003. They made their home in Richfield, Minnesota where they enjoyed each other and spent a lot of time upgrading their home, garage and yard.

Crist was a very caring person throughout his life. He was madly in love with Stephanie and enjoyed working around his home.

One subject Crist and Stephanie had discussed at length was organ donation. He was adamant about being an organ donor. Just 3 weeks before he died, he again talked this over with Stephanie. Who would have guessed his wishes would be fulfilled so soon? He died as the result of falling down the basement stairs and suffering severe head trauma. He was physically an excellent donor candidate. In fact, his donation benefited 100 people.

Organ donation takes place during the most difficult time of your life; the death of a loved one. Because of our strong faith in God and the comfort of family and friends, we realize this was all part of God’s plan. There are one hundred people here on earth, some who probably wouldn’t be here, if Crist hadn’t decided to be an organ and tissue donor. And of course we’re comforted knowing Crist is with his Heavenly Father.

We have had the privilege of meeting both his heart and liver recipient. We’ve become good friends with Jay, who received Crist’s heart, and his wife Tammy. We’ve been fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time with them and they include us as members of their family. Tim received Crist’s liver. He and his wife Julia have four children and he is now well and working again. We are included as part of their family also. Through our friendship with these people we’ve come to realize how difficult donation is for the recipient. They have to go through the physical process of surgery and recovery and also deal with the emotional fact that someone has died so they can live. These people are truly grateful for their Gift of Life.

LifeSource’s mission statement is “LifeSource saves lives and offers hope and healing through excellence in organ and tissue donation” and that is exactly how they operate. The entire process was handled with the utmost dignity and respect by caring and dedicated people.