NORFOLK, Va. — A Hampton Roads man is making an organ donation splash: Zach Pate was HIV positive, but donated his heart to save a life.
This was the third heart donation from an HIV-positive patient, but the first at Sentara Hospital, where the surgery took place.
“He was a quiet guy,” said Pate’s sister, Ashley Blankenship.
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That’s how Blankenship remembers his brother: a quiet man with lots of energy.
“You could always tell when he was in a room, he had that energy,” Blankenship said.
Zach committed suicide in July at the age of 29.
“My brother registered as an organ donor when he lived in North Carolina. When he found out he had HIV he didn’t think he could be an organ donor, so he wasn’t listed as an organ donor on his Virginia registration,” Blankenship said.
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Doctors at Sentara Hospital removed Zach’s heart after his death, making it the hospital’s first HIV-positive heart donation.
A video provided by Sentara showed the hospital’s chaplain praying over Mr Pate’s body before he was taken to the operating room.
“There are more than 100,000 people waiting for organ transplants in the United States.” Life Net Health Vice President Doug Wilson said:
LifeNet Health helped coordinate the organ donation, which Wilson said has a domino effect.
“You’re going to be helping seven, eight, nine people, and all of their families and employees are going to be affected,” Wilson said.
Pastor Sentara offers prayers over Zach Pate’s body
This donation ultimately HOPE Act.
The law, passed in 2013, established a research program to allow people with HIV to become organ donors.
Before this law came into effect, they were not allowed to be donors.
Blankenship said she was happy to be able to fulfill her brother’s wish to be an organ donor.
“We really miss him,” Blankenship said.
For more information about organ donation or to register as an organ donor, click here. here.
