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Donor Families Honored at CNYETB-Syracuse Crunch Drop the Puck Ceremony
January 31, 2012
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The families of organ and tissue donors Kelly Kline and Robby Somerville were honored in front of 6,352 Syracuse Crunch hockey fans Saturday, January 27, 2012, at the annual CNYETB- Syracuse Crunch ‘Drop the Puck’ donation awareness night. Kelly’s mother, Karen Kline, and Michelle Lester, Robby’s mother, took to the ice together before the start of the game and dropped ceremonial game pucks between designated Crunch and rival Rochester Americans players as Kelly’s and Robby’s photos were displayed on the rink’s overhead scoreboard. At the same time, the Crunch announced to the sold-out crowd the purpose of the puck drop and read aloud Kelly’s and Robby’s biographies and donations.
In addition to the ceremonial puck drop, CNYETB staff manned CNYETB promotional tables at the game to distribute to Crunch fans information about donation including donor enrollment cards. That effort was organized by CNYETB Hospital and Community Relations Coordinator Jessica Duffy, Administrative Assistant Amanda Fosberg, and Intern Erin Roth. They were assisted at the tables by Fosberg’s husband, Andy, and Michelle Lester’s husband Kevin as well as donor mom Helen Doerfler-Bashucky who passed out water bottles to 500 lucky fans. Over 200 CNYETB donor family members, transplant recipients, and other supporters attended the event.
Kelly Kline was 13 years old when she passed away in her sleep from heart failure on August 7, 1999. Her family decided to donate her organs to help others, and in doing so she helped save the lives of three adults. “Kelly brought joy to everyone she met in her life through her hugs and smiles,” observed her mother, Karen.
Robby Somerville told his parents months before the accident that took his life that if anything happened to him, he never wanted to live on machines and if there was anything he could do to help other people, he wanted them to do it. That’s why upon his passing they decided to donate his organs. “Since Robby died and donated his organs, our entire, extended family has had conversations about organ, eye, and tissue donation and we have become consented donors, including my Dad in 2010,” Michelle Lester said. “We’ve also started things like Donor Family Network, a donor family support group that works with other families through donation. Organ, eye, and tissue donation is incredibly important. Robby would have agreed 100%.”
The highlight of the night was when Kline and Lester stepped onto the ice to drop their pucks between the Crunch and American players and, as their daughter’s and son’s photos were displayed and bios read, players from both teams began pounding their hockey sticks in unison as a show of support. The sell-out crowd picked up on the players’ encouragement and likewise cried, clapped, whistled, and roared their appreciation during the puck drop.
