If there is ever a time when you can find some kind of good stemming from the violence ravaging this country, then it is a must for the story to be told. The gun violence in inner cities across the country has been devastating communities for decades. For the past few years, the focus has been on the city of Chicago, a city that had over 700 homicides, a twenty year record, in 2016.
The story of Takiya Holmes left many readers disturbed, although Takiya is not the first child to lose her life due to the gun violence in Chicago. However, though still sad, there is a glimmer of hope that still shines from a silver lining caused by the death of this 11-yr-old girl.
While sitting in a family van with her 3-yr-old brother, gang member Antwan Jones, opened fire on rival gang members across a Chicago street. Antwan missed all of his rival targets, but managed to shoot Takiya Holmes directly in her temple, killing her instantly.
Takiya was placed on life support, but shortly after she was removed from life support; at this point, her family made the most difficult and most selfless decision a family could make. The family made the decision to donate Takiya’s organs to 6 people in need; one of these people was a distant relative of the family and the other five were strangers.
Takiya’s heart, pancreas, lungs, and kidneys were given to six recipients. While this does not ease the family’s pain of their loss of a precious 11-yr-old girl; they are grateful for the joy that others have received due to their loss.
“It brings us peace to know that she’s living in someone else, the fact that she extended another person’s life and helped give them quality of life, we can live with that,” explain the Holmes family.
African Americans receive twenty percent of all transplants, while only sixteen percent of African Americans are transplant donors. An large majority of these operations are kidney transplants, due to the epidemic of diabetes in the black community. Even though there is a need in the African American community, stigmas and fear have made people hesitant when it comes to organ donations.
We are thankful for Takiya and the Holmes family for overcoming the stigmas, and taking their loss to create hope and happiness for other families.
Syllabus Magazine, the Carolina’s source for Music, Culture and Fashion
