Syracuse native, University of Oklahoma student awarded Indiana Donor Network educational scholarship
August 21, 2024
SYRACUSE, Ind. – Katherine Gaff, 30, of Syracuse has been awarded a $5,000 educational scholarship from Indiana Donor Network Foundation.
She is a 2012 graduate of Wawasee High School and a 2020 graduate of Purdue University Fort Wayne. Currently, Gaff is pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts at University of Oklahoma.
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Indiana Donor Network Foundation established its scholarship fund in 2005 to provide educational scholarships for immediate family members of Indiana residents who are organ and tissue donors in addition to living organ donors, organ transplant recipients, people waiting for lifesaving organ transplants and immediate family members of organ and tissue donors and transplant recipients.
Those selected as scholarship recipients often help raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation in saving and healing lives.
Other recipients this year included Martha Hunter of Carmel ($8,000), Edith Estridge of Chesterton ($6,500), Halle Mitchell of Jacksonville, Florida ($5,000) and Eric Casad of Terre Haute ($2,000).
In the past five years, Indiana Donor Network Foundation has awarded $114,000 in educational scholarships, which are made possible each year thanks to the generosity of contributions made by Indiana Donor Network employees and the general public.
In the essay portion of her scholarship application, Gaff shared her connection to organ donation story.
A talented artist, Gaff was a sculpture major at Purdue University Fort Wayne on an art trip to Italy for her degree program when her family was frantically trying to reach her through calls and text messages.
She had no cell service for hours until she arrived back to her hotel. Flooded with messages, she quickly returned one call – to her mother. “Your brother has died” were the first words Gaff heard.
Nicholas Gaff was 25 when he died in a car accident in 2017. “My brother was insanely intelligent, kind and thoughtful,” Gaff said. “He knew how to work hard and have a great time with his friends.”
Tragedy would strike Gaff a year later, when her father Mark drowned in a local lake. Resuscitated by a nurse and rushed to the hospital, doctors declared him brain dead. Gaff and her family gathered at the hospital and were asked to consider organ and tissue donation.
“The transplant surgeon who would perform recovery of my father’s donations was the same surgeon who performed my brother’s donation,” she said. The surgeon arrived well ahead of Gaff’s father’s recovery surgeon to meet with the family and discuss options.
“He shared with us information about a relatively new procedure where he could secure an entire knee joint, not just parts of it, that could allow somebody to walk again without requiring prosthetics,” Gaff said. “We also learned more about bone grafts and both cornea and tissue donations and how many people that could help.”
The opportunity for Gaff to learn about donation with the surgeon, feel the amount of care he vowed to take with her brother’s body and revisit the care extended to her father during donation gave her “peace in knowing organ donation was an excellent choice for us to make,” she said.
Despite age or medical history, anyone can sign up to be a donor at DonateLifeIndiana.org. Learn more about Indiana Donor Network.
Indiana Donor Network’s mission is to save and enhance the quality of life through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. Its vision is to be a leader in organ and tissue recovery. Founded in 1987, the organization coordinates donation in 85 of the state’s 92 counties and serves transplant hospitals throughout the U.S.
ABOUT INDIANA DONOR NETWORK
The decision to become an organ, tissue and cornea donor is a decision to give the gift of life. Indiana Donor Network serves as the vital link between donors and patients waiting for lifesaving organ transplants, healing tissue and corneas to restore sight. The organization is a federally designated organ recovery organization and accredited tissue bank serving 85 of Indiana’s 92 counties. Its team of nearly 400 dedicated professionals is committed to saving and healing lives through donation and transplantation, championing the cause through education and outreach and supporting donor families in their time of need. For more or to sign up as a donor, visit Indiana Donor Network online.
About Indiana Donor Network Foundation
As a subsidiary of Indiana Donor Network, Indiana Donor Network Foundation enhances the lives of those touched by donation through education, innovation, caring and support. The Foundation raises funds through individual contributions, special events and sponsorships to support transplant recipients and the families of donor heroes. For more, visit Indiana Donor Network Foundation online.
Indiana Donor Network® and the Indiana Donor Network Foundation® are federally registered trademarks.
About Donate Life Indiana
Since 1998, Donate Life Indiana has been the state-authorized nonprofit organization responsible for managing the Indiana donor registry. Its mission is to save lives by creating opportunities for all Indiana citizens to sign up on the organization’s official state registry while striving to raise awareness for organ, tissue and cornea donation and transplantation through public education. For more, visit Donate Life Indiana online.
