The gift of life for a friend, coworker

Besides his family, it’d be hard to find anything Andy Pavlovec loved more than bicycling. He did it for recreation. He did it for transportation. He’s done it for thousands of miles.

But one particular ride, just after Easter in 2021, would turn out to be his last. On the way to pick up donuts for his two young boys, a teenager using her cellphone struck Andy with her car. The brain injury he sustained that day was severe enough to cost him his life.

But 36-year-old Andy, the son of Vic Pavlovec, a manager in the Cardiopulmonary and Infusion services departments at Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital in West Union, just two months earlier had registered to be an organ donor. And because of his health and level of fitness, many of his organs – heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, corneas, tissue and bones – have been used to save several lives – including a friend and coworker of Vic’s at Gundersen Palmer.

April is National Donate Life Month across the country, and since their son’s death, Vic and her husband, Dan, have been active advocates for organ donation through the Iowa Donor Network. Despite the pain they still feel over the tragedy, Vic says there’s comfort knowing they’re carrying out Andy’s wishes.

“We do get to know that there’s impact, good impact,” Vic says. 

‘Then we’ve got to do it’

Andy, a North Liberty resident, was the life of the party, Vic says. He was full of fun, and he enjoyed being with people, be it his school classmates, cousins or brothers. But above all, he loved spending time outdoors with his sons Evan and Riehle, who were 13 and 11 at the time of the accident.

“He was so intentional with his boys,” Vic said during an interview with the Iowa Donor Network. “He took them to rallies for women’s rights. He talked about the environment a lot and recycling.

“They would be going off on their bikes together on the bike trails a lot.”

Andy’s passion for the environment and recycling ultimately extended to himself. Once doctors determined that Andy would not recover, a social worker from Iowa Donor Network approached his sons with the idea of donating their dad’s organs. 

“She started talking to the boys and said, ‘I heard your dad was really good about recycling,’ and pretty soon she said, ‘Well there are a few things your dad wanted to recycle so that other people could live with his organs,’” Vic says. “There was barely a second pause and Riehle said, ‘Then we’ve got to do it.’ The boys were so wonderful about doing what dad wanted to do.”

One donation hits close to home

Several years uncle, Vic’s uncle needed a kidney, and his brother was a suitable donor. That was her first, but not last, personal experience with the world of organ donation – though as an ER nurse, she’s spoken to families about it many times.

But then the conversation became a little more personal. Vic’s former coworker and friend, Ruth Medberry, who worked for years in the kitchen at Gundersen Palmer as a volunteer, was forced to retire because of kidney disease. It progressed to the point that Ruth needed a donor kidney.

Vic had learned the family could do directed donation with Andy’s organs if a family or friend needed an organ. After calling doctors at Palmer, as well has her longtime colleague Dr. Raju Ailiani, three people were identified in need of a kidney, and of those three, Ruth was the only match.

“We were happy that we were donating to anybody in order to fulfill Andy’s wishes, but it brought things closer to home if it could be somebody on our patient lists, and the only one that could match everything on our patient lists was Ruth,” Vic says.

A surprising match

At first, Ruth couldn’t believe a suitable kidney had been found.

“I got the call one evening. The hospital here called and said, ‘We think we have a kidney for you,’” Ruth says. “And I said, ‘What kind of a joke do you think this is?’ I couldn’t imagine.”

Yet the next day, Ruth was driving to the hospital where the transplant would take place to undergo a day’s worth of testing. The following evening, she got the call that would change her life. Back to the hospital she went the next morning to receive her kidney – not knowing at the time who it was coming from, but just that it was a perfect match.

Upon reflecting on her journey, Ruth admitted to mixed emotions. She was scared about going through with the surgery and surprised that at her age, a kidney was directed to her so quickly. 

“When you’re 70-some years old, it’s a surprise,” she says. “I was very happy and scared, I guess you’d say. I didn’t really know what to expect.”

A story lives on

That day in April 2021 was a tragic one, to be sure, knowing those he loved are left to work through their emotions. But what would make it more tragic, Vic says, is if the story ended with his senseless death. 

“I feel like, in a way, (we’re) luckier that he could donate because you’re doing something to help people live on,” she says. “Andy was very kind, very generous. It just makes the pain of his loss … it just makes it mean something. It doesn’t just end there.”

If you’d like to learn more about organ donation or to register to be a donor, visit iowadonornetwork.org.