Andrea and her son, Damon, before his death in 2023 (Image: Change.org)
Andrea Mauk was thousands of miles from home when every mother’s worst nightmare suddenly became her devastating reality.
She received the news that her son, Damon, had died at just 18 years of age.
Damon had recently graduated from high school and was pursuing his real-estate licence. His entire future stretched out ahead of him – until he lost control of his vehicle on a country road and collided with a tree.
On June 24, 2023, in Lucas, Ohio, his life was tragically cut short.
Andrea was enjoying a holiday with her husband and friends in sun-soaked Costa Rica when her own parents rang to deliver the most devastating news any parent could ever receive. She recalled needing to be sedated upon learning that she had lost her beloved son.
So, the 42-year-old mum rushed home, utterly heartbroken. Upon her return, she discovered that a second ordeal had unfolded, making bidding farewell to her son all the more unbearable.
Parts of Damon’s body had been removed as “anatomical gifts” without her consent.
Andrea Mauk, her son Damon and husband Edward. (Image: Andrea Mauk)
Speaking to the New York Post, Andrea said: “I was completely devastated.
“I went to the funeral home and couldn’t even look at him after they’d taken pieces of his body.”
She added: “They stole my son’s eyes. I didn’t want to remember Damon like that.”
The Ohio mother stated that the hospital never contacted her, despite records clearly listing her as her son’s primary emergency contact. Damon was also not a registered organ donor.
As it transpired, consent to harvest Damon’s organs had been granted by Damon’s biological father; a man Andrea claims played virtually no role in their son’s life.
Consent had been secured and so, technically, the Organ Procurement Organisation (OPO) had acted within the boundaries of the law.
Yet Andrea could not comprehend why she – Damon’s primary emergency contact – had never been reached. Her details were plainly visible on his hospital records, and yet no call was ever made.
Damon had been raised without his biological father. It was only in Damon’s death, rather than life, that his biological dad chose to exercise his parental rights and make choices on his son’s behalf.
Damon tragically died in a car accident while his mum was out of the country. (Image: undefined)
Andrea, meanwhile, was enduring the most devastating moments of her life as she frantically attempted to reach her son’s side. And when she couldn’t arrive in time, she lost both her boy and his body in one crushing blow.
The Ohio mother told the New York Post that she was left utterly devastated and powerless in a foreign country, with no rights and no communication from those who were harvesting her son’s organs.
“I loved Damon very deeply,” she said.
“I had him when I was very young and we always joked that we brought each other up. We were incredibly close. A call to me was all I wanted. Decisions I didn’t get to take part in were made.”
Now, following Damon’s death, her grief exists alongside a sense of purpose. She is determined to see ‘Damon’s Law’ incorporated into legislation to reinforce hospital protocols surrounding tissue and organ donations.
“One ‘yes’ over the phone from Damon’s estranged biological father was all it took for his heart tissue, skin, eyes, and ligaments to be removed without my knowledge or consent and before a complete autopsy could be performed. My son’s body parts were then sent to for-profit tissue centres, and his eyes were sent as far away as Argentina.
“Congress must pass Damon’s Law to stop organ procurement organisations from pressuring grieving families, require truly informed consent, and keep donated body parts from being shipped to or sold by for-profit companies.”
She added: “While facing the worst loss of my life, I was denied the chance to give my son the goodbye I had hoped for. Instead, I was forced to fight for answers. I testified before the Ohio Senate and took a public records case all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court, helping lead to higher transparency laws in the state. No family should have to fight this hard for the truth.”
Andrea maintains there are no records showing that anyone from the hospital had tried to contact her after Damon died. “After deciding 30 minutes was a “reasonable” amount of time to reach me, they turned to Damon’s biological father, who had no custody, was not involved in his life, and had never helped make medical decisions for him. I have found no record that anyone called me,” she said, adding: “The medical records only show that I called the hospital.”
Andrea believes the legislation currently in place is insufficient to safeguard grieving relatives.
She is not opposed to organ donation, either. The 42-year-old mother of Damon makes that abundantly clear.
“I believe in organ donation,” she said, before adding: “This is not about ending the gift of life.”
On July 21, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced sweeping reforms to the organ transplant system. Transparent, enforceable policies would be established to define the criteria for donor eligibility.
The reforms follow an investigation that exposed deeply troubling practices by a prominent organ procurement organisation operating across Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio; the state where Damon and Andrea resided.
Damon Mauk died tragically at age 18 (Image: undefined)
An investigation into the OPO uncovered harrowing cases in which some patients may have still been alive when their organs were removed. The probe also revealed the organisation may have carried out inadequate neurological assessments of potential organ donation candidates.
Poor co-ordination with medical teams and highly questionable consent practices were additionally brought to light. Fox News medical analyst Dr Marc Siegel has since praised Robert F.
Kennedy — the US Health and Human Services Secretary — for “bringing to light horror stories about the dark corners of organ harvesting”.
Current legislation governing organ and tissue donations is overseen by a combination of overlapping state and federal laws. US federal law mandates that hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid notify OPOs of deaths and imminent deaths, many within 60 minutes, regardless of whether a patient is a registered donor.
OPOs are obliged to approach the family members of potential donors. Failure to do so results in financial penalties, which has fostered a culture within some OPOs where grieving families find themselves under pressure during the most devastating moments of their lives.
It is precisely this that drives Andrea to campaign for reform, in honour of her beloved son, whom she still describes as the light of her life.
You can sign Andrea’s Change.org petition here.
