Landon Palmer

Organ donor

Age 8 days – Council Bluffs, IA

Donated on 10/22/2015

at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center

Honored by Promethera Biosciences

Landon Merritt O’Neal Palmer, from Council Bluffs, Iowa, was born in October 2015 but was only 8 days old when he was taken from this Earth. He was the first-born grandchild on both sides. On October 14, a healthy, baby boy made a grand entrance into the world. His parents brought him home to cuddle, snuggle, and love. However, just a few days later, Landon went into cardiac arrest. After being resuscitated by medical staff, Landon’s brain suffered severe damage, and he was not able to recover. During that difficult time, his parents decided to donate Landon’s organs and tissue. They hoped they could help another family in need, and have a part of Landon live on through donation. Today, on October 14, Landon’s parents will honor him with a birthday celebration and celebration of life party. They have been doing this every year to celebrate his ultimate gift of life.

Landon’s Story

Landon Merritt O’Neal Palmer, from Council Bluffs, IA, was born in October 2015 but was only 8 days old when he was taken from this Earth. He was the first born and a bald-headed, feisty little guy! From the moment we found out we were expecting, he was loved. He was the first-born grandchild on both sides. Let the spoiling begin. All was going well throughout the whole pregnancy. On October 14, a healthy, tiny 5½ pound baby boy made a grand entrance into our world. We brought him home to cuddle, snuggle, and love. All was well in our world.

However, on October 20th things took a turn. In my arms and our home, Landon went into cardiac arrest. CPR was performed until EMS could arrive. They got him back up and running only to code again hours later. After numerous attempts, Landon wasn’t able to keep himself going on his own. He was placed on ECMO as a life saving measure. But because of the lack of oxygen from coding many times, Landon’s brain was too damaged and had lost the ability to heal itself and function properly. This was when we, as his parents, started the organ donation talk. We knew we were losing our son but didn’t want any other parent to have to go through what we were. The only thing we could think was organ donation could help another family avoid this moment and a part of Landon would live on. We chose to have Landon give the gift of life to others.

In his short time on our Earth, Landon made his way into many hearts and lives. He also taught us so much about love for not only us but others as well. Each October, we honor Landon with a birthday celebration and celebration of life party. We do this to celebrate his ultimate gift. He physically lives on through the research that was able to be done with the donation of his liver.