Life after the decision to die
Millstone resident saved by organ donor Jason Ray
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer
David Erving, 41, lost his right eye and has little vision in the left. His left shin, which couldn't heal cleanly after snapping from low calcium, is so severely curved that his left leg is 3 inches shorter than his right. He has no teeth. His arms are a mangled mess of skin and scar tissue from 10 years of dialysis.

JEFF GRANIT staff Millstone's David Erving, 41, received an organ transplant that cured him of diabetes and saved his life. David rests in a recliner while his mother Nancy visits the shed he lives in behind his family's home.

Diabetes ravaged Erving's body for 27 years. By the age of 40, he had been hospitalized over 50 times for reasons including gallbladder removal and coma.

By 2007, Erving had to have dialysis for four hours a day, three times a week and needed a new pancreas and kidney. He had applied to become an organ donor recipient in 1997, but was told he wasn't eligible because doctors did not believe he could survive the surgery. In 2004, a Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital nurse convinced Erving to reapply. He was approved with a caveat — he had to have his remaining 22 teeth pulled to avoid potential mouth infections in the event of a transplant.

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above: David Erving keeps an album with pictures and articles about organ donor Jason Ray, the University of North Carolina mascot who died during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after being hit by a car. Below: David Erving, who had an organ transplant that saved his life, built this shed he lives in behind his family's Millstone home after recovering.

Erving waited for a transplant for three years. On three occasions, he received a phone call that organs were available and that he was the backup recipient, but never made the top of the list. In March 2007, when he was told his current catheter would fail, he made the decision to decline another one, knowing he would die.

"I was getting worse," he said. "I was already on a dialysis machine for four hours and 15 minutes three times a week and the doctors wanted to raise it more. I was getting tired. It was getting to be too much for me. I wanted to sign off."

A ray of hope shined into Erving's nightmare on March 26, 2007, in the dialysis room where he witnessed many like him die. Doctors told him they had a possible donor, that he was No. 1 on the recipient list and that Medicaid and Medicare would cover the costs. Although he heeded hospital instructions to not eat and wait at home, Erving still didn't believe a transplant was in the cards for him. But, later that night he got the call and the Millstone Township First Aid Squad transported him to the hospital, where at 8:30 a.m. March 27, 2007, he went into the operating room.

"I was nervous," he said. "Anything could happen."

Some of the last things he heard before going under were surgeons warning that he could die on the operating table, the kidney might not work, and that his body could reject the organs. The music to his ears upon coming to 11 hours later was a doctor saying that Erving got the best kidney and pancreas available.

Erving didn't know where the organs came from until he turned on the evening news.

Jason Ray, 21, of Concord, N.C., was struck by a vehicle on Route 4 in Fort Lee March 23, 2007, while returning to the Fort Lee Hilton from a gas station where he grabbed a burrito and soda before his team's game. Ray, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot Ramses, suffered a cracked skull, brain injury, and an irreversible stroke that left him with no brain activity. He was pronounced dead at 8:38 a.m. March 26, 2007, in Hackensack University Medical Center.

Shortly thereafter, Ray's father, Emmitt, abided by the decision his son made when he got his driver's license and signed the release allowing the New Jersey Sharing Network to recover Ray's organs. The donations went to 140 people and saved four New Jersey men's lives, including Ronald Giffen, of Somerset, who received the heart, Dennis Korzelius, of Toms River, who received the liver, and Antwar Hunter, of Newark, who received a kidney.

The story drew national attention to organ donation and Erving, who may never have come to know the donor had it not been Ray, got a chance to meet his donors' parents when ESPN's "E-60" called for an interview.

"I said thank you for this gift and sorry for the loss," Erving said, adding that he has since become close with Ray's family.

Through talks with Emmitt and his wife, Charlotte, Erving got to know a lot about the young man that saved his life. Ray was an Eagle Scout who was strong in faith and opinions and active in community service. Erving also discovered that Ray's decision to become an organ donor was his own and against the will of his parents.

"They tried to talk him out of it, but Jason did what he thought was right and what he wanted to do," Erving said, adding that he is proud that Ray researched organ donation and committed himself to it at such a young age.

That decision has since helped increase organ donations across the nation as many media outlets, including CBS News, The Opera Winfrey Show and the Star-Ledger, helped tell the story of how Ray saved four lives and helped numerous others with tissue and bone donations.

As a result of Ray's generosity, Erving lives. He no longer has diabetes. He does not have to visit a doctor more than twice each year. He went from taking 11 blood pressure pills each day for high blood pressure to taking two each day for low blood pressure. He can walk and see better.

"This really changed my life," he said. "I'm not tied down to dialysis. I can do what I want. I can go on vacation."

Erving now regularly helps a friend with his business and attends NASCAR and New Egypt Speedway events. He also built the shed he lives in behind his family's house in Millstone. There, he watches all of his favorite shows on a large-screen television and sleeps easy in an easy chair, knowing that his years of living on this earth have finally begun.

In helping more people realize the benefits of organ donations, Erving partnered with Vesuvio Pizza in Millstone to create bumper stickers. He also travels to community and school functions where he discusses his experience and the lifesaving decision Ray made.

To schedule Erving to speak about organ transplants, call 732-915-0541.