Christine Springer was a natural born mother. She took special care of her children, welcomed her children's friends into her home, nursed her parents, took in her husband's half-brothers and delighted in each grandchild and great-grandchild. Chris gladly put her dreams aside so her loved ones could live theirs. After watching her granddaughter, Ali, receive the gift of a new liver, Chris knew that one day she wanted to be a donor. A stroke in 2007 took Chris's life, but she was able to fulfill her wish of giving the gift of life by becoming a liver donor.

Christine's Story

Christine Keim Springer's story is a story of two gifts: the lifesaving liver her granddaughter Ali received, and the liver Chris gave after suffering a stroke.

In August 2002, two and a half weeks after Ali's 11th birthday, volunteers flew her to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for a liver transplant that would treat a rare genetic condition in which the liver cannot drain bile. Ali had suffered worsening symptoms – Vitamin K deficiency, jaundice and severe itching – since infancy. All summer, Chris had watched Ali's turn for the worst. The powerlessness she felt, unable to save her granddaughter, crushed her.

"Chris was a born mother," reported her daughter, Molly deRoos. "She was there every day when we got home from school. She made our lunches and cooked dinner using home-grown vegetables and locally-grown chickens or meat. We could talk to her about anything. Our friends spent as much time as possible at our house. With a house full of teenagers, she joyfully welcomed her fifth child. She loved being a grandmother, delighting in each grand- and great-grandchild."

Chris gladly put her dreams aside so her loved ones could live theirs. She gave up a full music scholarship to nurse her father after a tractor accident crushed his hip. She moved away from her family so her husband could develop his career. She moved her children, leaving her husband behind, back to her parents' farm to nurse them after they were critically injured in a car accident. She took in her husband's two half-brothers when their parents died.

After losing her husband, she went to work and eventually became a town justice. She focused on helping young people overcome their mistakes, devising consequences that were fair to the victim but left room for the offender's redemption and growth. She had standing weekly appointments with offenders she felt needed her guidance the most.

But Chris couldn't fix Ali's condition – a transplant was the only solution. "The moment Ali opened her eyes after surgery, Mom knew she would be a donor herself," said Molly. "Someday she would give the miracle of life to someone whose family would be devastated by the loss of a loved one."

Then Chris suffered a stroke. She went to bed feeling fine, and the next morning she was locked away from her family forever. Watching her lie in the hospital bed, her family didn't hesitate: Chris would donate her organs so other families could experience the gift of life.