Daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, granddaughter, and friend. Brooke Fisher loved her friends and family fiercely. She had a soft spot for animals that needed rescuing, a fondness for Disney movies, and a deep appreciation for live music. 

Brooke was also a registered organ donor, with the wisdom and forethought to let her family know of her wishes to donate her organs in the unlikely event they would need to know her end-of-life intentions. This conversation alleviated the uncertainty her dad and mom, Tom and Kris Fisher, might have felt when they learned their beloved daughter would not survive the injuries she sustained in a vehicle collision in February 2021 and needed to discuss with the hospital Brooke’s transition to organ donor. 

Brooke was originally from Fairbanks but had been residing in Salem, Oregon at the time of the accident. While her parents were engulfed in grief at the loss of their daughter, they appreciated the care, comfort, and support provided to them by the staff at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland and by the Pacific Northwest Transplant Bank. 

Brooke’s care team provided several ways to preserve some important memories of her life and recognize the legacy that she was creating through the donation of her life-saving gifts. Brooke’s family was asked to record some of the ways that Brooke would be remembered. One person wrote “She never lets her inhibitions prevent her from saying "I love you" and another wrote “She is always polite and kind, even to strangers”. These remembrances were shared while her father raised the Donate Life flag during a flag raising ceremony outside of the hospital. Brooke was able to donate her pancreas, liver, kidneys and heart.

The system of organ donation

The flag that was raised in Portland in honor of Brooke’s gifts was a Donate Life flag, a symbol of the life-saving actions being taken inside the hospital. Donate Life America is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to increase the number of donated organs to save lives through transplantation while developing a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility. 

Across the country, there are a total of 57 organizations that are called organ procurement organizations, or OPOs. OPOs are members of Donate Life America and work directly with hospitals in their region to assess organ donor potential, collect and share medical information necessary for successful organ donations, and to follow the national policies for offering organs. Life Center Northwest is the OPO that serves hospitals in Alaska, Washington, Northern Idaho, and Montana. 

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital

Due to their positive experience in Portland, and as a way to honor Brooke, Tom and Kris Fisher along with their close friend and Trustee of the Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation, Bill Vivlamore, worked with the Foundation to launch the Brooke Fisher Gift of Life Fund. The Fund was established with the primary goal of ensuring their home community had the same support for families as they had experienced in Oregon. They wanted to make sure their community hospital had the resources to carry out flag raising ceremonies, honor walks, and memory-making activities for families of major organ donor patients. 

On August 31, 2021, inspired by the momentum created by the Brooke Fisher Gift of Life Fund and our staff that is passionate about honoring donor patients, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital broke ground on a Gift of Life Flag Pole and Memorial Wall situated on the north side of the hospital campus. It will be a beautiful space to reflect on and remember a life lived, a person loved, and the lives saved through the incredible gift of organ donation. The Fund will also furnish memory making items and custom wooden boxes to contain and carry those memories.

In 2021, there were a total of six donor patients from Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and 19 organs transplanted. Two of those patients had all six of their organs successfully transplanted, which is the most challenging achievement, but the best outcome a donor and their family could hope for.

Tom, Kris, and everyone at LifeCenter Northwest and Fairbanks Memorial Hospital urges Alaskans to join the donor registry, talk to your family and loved ones about your decision to be an organ donor, and consider your role in organ donation for loved ones in your care. You can join the registry at registerme.org.  

When asked what she would say to someone considering organ donation, Kris Fisher responded “Do it. There’s no reason not to. Knowing Brooke saved or improved the lives of at least 4 people…what else is there?”