Jaclyn Bush of MORA attended the event to tell participants about organ donation and how Officer Kennis Croom’s organ donation saved more than 75 people. Photo by Angela H. Cutrer

It was a hot and humid Friday, but those at Bonita Lakes Park took advantage of the sunshine to remember a man who gave his life for the people of Meridian, and later, to those who needed him even more.

 

The gathering was the third annual 3K Run/Walk for Croom, with the net proceeds going to Wesley House.

 

Meridian Police Department Officer Kennis Croom’s life ended June 9, 2022, and it nearly broke Meridian’s heart. As described by the “Officer Down Memorial Page,” Croom was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call at the 2400 block of 51st Avenue in Meridian at 5:30 p.m. that June day. Other officers arrived to discover Croom, as well as Brittany Anderson Jones, a victim of the domestic violence that occurred that night, had both been shot and killed.

 

Dante Bender fled the scene, but was arrested the following morning by members of a United States Marshals Service task force in Choctaw County. Bender pleded guilty and on May 22, 2024, he learned his sentence: Two consecutive life sentences, with one offering no possibility of parole.

 

Officer Croom had served with the MPD for nearly two years at the time of his death. He had also served with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office, the Jackson Police Department, the Brookhaven Police Department and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office. He is survived by his parents and siblings.

 

However, he is also survived by others who never met him. Because of Croom’s organ donation, more than 75 people received the gift of life from a man who just kept giving.

 

“Officer Crooms’ donation helped 75-plus people with his organ donation,” said Jaclyn Bush, of Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency, a not-for-profit organization with a mission “to save and improve lives through the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation.”

 

Bush continued: “Every day, approximately 16 people die waiting for the organ that would have given them a second chance,” she said. “In the United States, a new person goes on the waiting list every eight minutes. A lot of people think organ donations are the big things – lungs, hearts, kidneys. But tissue groups like heart valves, tendons, skin and ligaments are also useful.

 

“From just a single donor, up to eight lives can be saved through organ donation, and 75 or more lives can be healed through tissue donations. Tissue donations can help people who suffered burns, scar victims, women who’ve had reconstructive surgery after having cancer, professional athletes who have torn their ACL, PCL – tissue can literally go forever. So, a person can pass away and maybe they can’t be an organ donation, but they can be a tissue donor and that tissue can be kept for use for up to six years.”

 

The MORA website reported that “federal law requires hospitals to enact policies that make every family suffering the loss of a loved one aware of the opportunity for organ, eye and tissue donation. [Further,] 56 organ procurement agencies across the country are working in their designated service areas to accomplish this. MORA is the federally-designated organ procurement organization for most of Mississippi…”

 

According to Bush and MORA, the following can be donated: heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas and small intestine. Tissues include corneas, eyes, skin, bone, tendons, ligaments, vessels and heart valves.

 

Joining the Mississippi Donor Registry offers your consent for donation upon death. Information is kept in a confidential database; however, MORA strongly suggests that potential donors “keep the family in the loop” so they aren’t surprised later. Though next of kin can’t override the decision after a donor is gone, it’s still important to let loved ones in on the decision to become a donor.

 

There are several ways to register:

— online at registerme.org

— when obtaining or renewing a Mississippi driver’s license with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety

— when purchasing a hunting or fishing license with Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks

— through the iPhone’s Health app

— at a MORA table at community events

 

However, there are still many cultures that either don’t or refuse to find out about organ donation. Bush and her compatriots visit events such as the one honoring Officer Croom so they can help spread the message of how important donations can be for people who have suffered so greatly.

 

“Only about 2% of organ donors can actually donate; just 2%,” Bush said. “It’s very rare because there are so many variables.”

 

Bush hopes to share all this valuable information with those who would just give her a chance to explain.

 

“When people see my tent, sometimes they run,” she said with a laugh. “And I have to go, ‘Wait! Wait!’ Let me just explain!”

 

And what does she tell them? “Just take the opportunity to register to be a donor because, like I said, only 2% are ever donors,” she answered. “The opportunity, though, to save someone’s life? It’s greater. Just think about it.”

 

Visit msora.org for more information about organ donations.