The ultimate sacrifice
Linda Birtish literally gave herself away. Linda was an outstanding teacher
who felt that if she had spare time, she would often create great art and
poetry. When she was 28, however, she began to get severe headaches. Then
one day, her doctors discovered that she had an enormous brain tumor. They
told her that her chances of surviving an operation were about 2 percent.
Therefore, rather than operate immediately, they decided to wait for six
months.
None better than herself, she knew she had great artistry in her. So during
those six months waiting for a chance to win the death, she tirelessly rushed
to write and drew feverishly. All of her poetry, except one piece, was
published in famous magazines. All of her art, except one piece, was shown
and sold to many people at some of the leading galleries. In her bright color
art, there were always an aspiration to live and an optimistic point of view in
her poetry even if the fate turned its back on her.
At the end of six months awaiting, Linda finally had the operation. The night
before that very special day, she decided to literally give herself away. In
case of her death, she wrote a “will” in which she donated all of her body
parts to those who needed them more than she would.
Unfortunately, the operation was fatal. Subsequently, her eyes went to an eye
bank in Bethesda, Maryland, and from there to a recipient in South Carolina.
And a young man, age 28, went from darkness to sight. That young man and
his family were so profoundly grateful that he wrote to the eye bank
thanking them for helping him to see again. It was only the second “thank
you” that the eye bank had received after giving out in excess of 30,000
eyes!
Furthermore, he said he wanted to thank the family of the donor’s eyes. He
thought they must indeed be magnificent folks to have a child who would
give away her eyes. The doctors gave him Linda’s address and he decided to
fly immediately to see his donor on Stalen Island. After looking for the right
