Exactly one year to the day after Dave Murphy's son-in-law Dana became an organ donor, Dave received a liver transplant. His experiences with organ donation and transplantation inspired Dave to go back to school for a nursing degree, and he now works as a procurement coordinator at Indiana’s organ recovery agency.

Dave's Story

Dave Murphy had never seriously thought about organ donation until his 23-year-old son-in-law, Dana, was in a serious automobile accident. Dana and his wife, Dave's daughter Leslie, had been friends since the eighth grade, so Dana had been part of the family for a long time. He was able to donate his kidneys, heart, and liver.

Donation and transplantation touched Dave's family a second time. Though he suspected he had liver disease, about three months after Dana’s death Dave was stunned when his physician told him he needed a transplant. After the evaluation period, he waited approximately five months before he received a liver at the Clarian Transplant Center at IU Hospital – exactly one year to the day that Dana became an organ donor.

Dave represents the organ and tissue donation community through his hard work, dedication and intense passion that he exhibits through his everyday life. A manufacturing veteran of 25 years, Dave decided to pursue his ultimate goal of graduating from nursing school with the hopes of becoming an organ procurement coordinator for Indiana Organ Procurement Organization. In 2006, Dave completed nursing classes at the IVY Tech Community College campus in Kokomo, Ind. On May 5, 2007, Dave reach his goal as he became an IOPO organ procurement technician.