When Alaiya Wilcox, age 2, passed away as a result of bacterial meningitis, her parents, Lacey and Brandon Wilcox, were questioned by the medical staff about whether or not they would be willing to give their daughter’s organs.
The decision to give the organs of their daughter to others who were in desperate need of them was one that neither Lacey nor Brandon hesitated to make.
They had experienced the pain of losing a child themselves, and they did not want other parents to have to go through the anguish that they had.
“Without pausing for a moment, my husband and I enthusiastically said, ‘YES!’ Because Alaiya was such a selfless youngster, we had no doubt that this was the correct action to do. ” said Lacey.
Not much longer after that, she got the news that she was expecting the couple’s third daughter, “dealing with grief while also being pregnant was not an easy experience for us by any stretch of the imagination. Our three-year-old child was inconsolable after the loss of her sibling and her closest friend. ”
Maison Perkins, who was born with a heart abnormality, received the organ that was donated by Alaiya.
Lacey continued by saying, “We frequently wondered if the receiving family was grateful of the wonderful gift that Alaiya had given. Personally, I hoped that we would be able to see them and have another chance to listen to her warm pulse.
On December 8, 2016, the couple’s wish was finally fulfilled when a photographer contacted them and informed them that someone wanted to send them a letter.
Lacey didn’t have a problem complying with the request; nonetheless, she was interested about the identity of the unknown person who asked her to write a letter.
It was Maison’s mother who had written the letter, as it turned out. Lacey described her state of mind by saying, “I felt incredibly emotional but delighted.
Angela sent me a message on Facebook, and we discussed our experiences together. She couldn’t tell me enough how thankful they were for giving Mason a chance at life, and she promised that she and her family would do all in their power to ensure that he had a life that was meaningful. ”
She continued by saying, “We spoke about meeting all throughout the year.
We were all aware that it was necessary for each of us to establish a connection since we are bound to one another for the rest of our lives.
It was fate that brought us together; Mason had a medical appointment in Nashville, and that city was in the middle of our travel routes, so it was the ideal location for our get-together. The emotions that were going through both my spouse and I were like a roller coaster.
When Lacey and Brandon’s two families finally met one other in an emotional encounter, they couldn’t help but feel an immediate connection to Maison, and they couldn’t help but cry.
Everything about this experience is ‘bittersweet,’ because as parents, we want all of our children to be here with us, but it isn’t possible given the circumstances.
Alaiya and Mason might have both been spared, and Angela and I could have met in the baby section of Target, but that is not how our story goes.”
“It is clear to see how much love they have for our precious little angel baby. We will always be a single, inseparable entity!”
Maison was one of the seven recipients who got Alaiya’s organs when she passed away.
“We were dangerously close to losing him, and during that whole period of time and there were several occasions on which I pondered the following question: “Will we be able to bring him home?” Alaiya had made it possible,” Angela remarked.
The Wilcoxes were given the opportunity to listen to their daughter’s heartbeat one again after meeting the other family in person at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee.