St. Luke’s staff lines hallways to honor man who donated organs after ending life support

The hallways on St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center’s fourth floor were lined with employees Thursday morning, spanning from the intensive care unit to the elevators leading to the operating room.

The hospital employees were paying their ultimate respects to a man giving life to others.

A 53-year-old local man on life support was pushed down the hallways in what the hospital terms its “Walk of Respect.” Staff gives such sendoffs when a patient and/or his family has agreed to be removed from life support and then immediately donate his or her organs. The man, whose family asked for his identity to remain anonymous, allowed St. Luke’s staff to capture the moment in a touching video before he died.

It was the second “Walk of Respect” this week, according to St. Luke’s spokeswoman Anita Kissée. Today’s occurred at 11:45 a.m.

“It’s just a way we can honor the family who has made a difficult decision,” Kissée said. “The family said it was just one of the most special things.”

All of St. Luke’s hospitals perform some sort of tribute to patients who are donating organs, Kissée said. Kissée said Meridian’s “Walk of Respect” started a few years ago after an employee’s son passed and employees paid tribute.

“Everyone said it had so much effect,” she said.

The man’s organs were donated to the Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank. Kissée said other hospitals, including the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, have reached out to St. Luke’s to say they would like to honor future patients the same way.

This story was originally published September 27, 2018 at 4:23 PM.