SILVER SPRING, Md. (WUSA) — DeWayne and Beverly Boyer remember 17-year-old Erin as the best daughter: “vibrant, straight A’s, athletic.” Then one night in 1998, Erin died unexpectedly from a brain aneurism.
“That was the most horrible night imaginable of life, to have someone who is bigger than life just in that instant, taken away,” says DeWayne.
But when the doctor suggested the Boyers had a chance to save someone else’s life, the family did not hesitate. With older daughter Raenelle, the family went down a checklist and agreed to donate specific organs, tissue and skin from Erin’s body.
DeWayne says the family realized Erin would have wanted to “give the gift of life.” He says Erin’s driver’s license indicated that she was an organ donor.
NaTasha Driggers, 46, received Erin’s kidney and pancreas. She had been waiting for a matching donor for a year and a half. Driggers had suffered from diabetes since she was 13.
As an adult in her early 30s, Driggers was put on dialysis for 18 months after her kidneys had started to fail. She says she would be drained from going on dialysis three times a week. But, the process kept her alive.
“For awhile at night, when I was trying to sleep, my chest would fill up with blood and no one knew where it came from,” she says.
Driggers says she prayed every night for a matching donor. On Aug. 12, 1998, her prayers were answered with a call from the Washington Regional Transplant Community. She immediately underwent transplant surgery. Afterward, her health recovered dramatically.
Driggers fills up with tears when she says she finally looked and felt healthy. With her new organs, she no longer suffers from diabetes.
She says the organ donation gave her a chance to watch her children grow up and to complete her education. Driggers is also an organ donor.
A year after the transplant surgery, Driggers and the Boyers exchanged letters. They then agreed to meet.
The union has led to a friendship ever since.
“I’m so grateful for my donor family,” says Driggers.
Written by: Elizabeth Jia
9NEWS NOW & WUSA9.com
I don’t know if you know this but we are just about ready to finish a building project that is over 20 years in the making. This summer our new multi-million dollar facility will open up and will serve college prep education to students in this community in grades Pre-K through 12th grade. 
