Excerpts from the journal-topics.com:

At 11 a.m. Friday (Oct. 2), the family of a Des Plaines Firefighter/Paramedic Paul Miller, Jr., who perished in a tragic accident, will meet one of several individuals he saved. Paul served both the McHenry Township Fire Protection District and the Des Plaines Fire Department before he died from injuries sustained from a motorcycle accident last April.

After Miller’s family learned he would not be able to recover from his injuries, they fulfilled his wish to become an organ donor. According to his mother, donations have gone to at least nine recipients through the Gift of Hope organization.  As patients began to receive the donations, she made sure to send them letters. However, because Gift of Hope has to work with other organizations to match organs and recipients, there were some communication challenges. 

Leo Forster, a man in his 70s who did not expect to get a new set of lungs due to his age, was so surprised and thankful that he also made an effort to contact Miller’s family. Eventually, Forster and the Millers were able to speak.  Forster and his wife travelled from their home in Cheboygan, MI, to McHenry so they could meet the Miller family in front of Paul Miller’s memorial globe on the McHenry Riverwalk. 

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