Jordan House was always very loving and giving. She volunteered her time with disabled children and went on mission trips with the Plainfield Christian Church. On February 27, 2008, 17-year-old Jordan began complaining about a headache. Eventually, Jordan was placed in a drug-induced coma. A few weeks later, an MRI showed Jordan had Locked in Syndrome with minimal brain stem function; she was never going to recover. Jordan was a registered donor, and her family wanted to do everything possible to honor her decision to help others. Jordan saved four people through her donation. Jordan's organ donation has helped the House family deal with their loss.

Jordan's Story

Jordan House was always very loving and giving. She volunteered her time with disabled children and went on mission trips with the Plainfield Christian Church. An avid softball player, she proudly wore her #21 jersey for the Indy Bandits.

On February 27, 2008, 17-year-old Jordan began complaining about a headache. On March 1st her condition worsened very quickly, and she was admitted to Hendricks Regional Health. She suffered a stroke and was immediately life-lined to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Her brain was swelling, and Jordan was placed in a drug-induced coma for five days. Jordan came out of her coma, but as the days passed she remained paralyzed from her nose down and unable to breathe on her own.

On March 21 another MRI showed Jordan had Locked In Syndrome with minimal brain stem function; she was never going to recover. On Easter morning her mother, Dana, realized, "Jordan was going home, but it wasn't our home! And God needed my help her get there. Our family wanted her off life support. If it was God's plan for her to live, then He would make it be, but not through a machine."

Jordan was a registered donor, and her family wanted to do everything possible to honor her decision to help others. Dana recalled a conversation on Christmas Eve 2007 with their friend, Lynn Livingston (a 2012 Donate Life Rose Parade Float Rider), who needed a liver transplant. Afterward Jordan asked her mother, "Mom, aren't you glad we are organ donors?" Little did Dana know she would be honoring her daughter's decision three months to the day after hearing their friend Lynn's story.

Unfortunately, Jordan and Lynn were not a match; however, Jordan did save four others through her donation. It has been over three years since Jordan's donation, and her family still tells her story to encourage others. Three months after Jordan passed, they began an annual motorcycle ride, raising over $11,000 in scholarships for Plainfield High School graduates. Dana has spent countless hours at hospitals speaking to nurses.

Jordan's organ donation has helped the House family deal with losing her. Dana says, "My healing has come about only because my daughter was a donor. I am able to get out of bed and not bury myself in the pain, but instead use this hurt to better the world. That's why I choose to volunteer; I would hate to see a family suffer the loss of their loved one, without something good coming out of their death."