PROSPECT, Tenn. (WHNT) — It’s the hardest thing any parent can go through, the loss of a child.
Kelly Noble knows the pain all too well. Her daughter, Katie Kelsoe, died in January 2024.
Noble said that knowing she will see Katie again is what has gotten her through the unbelievable loss.
“She’s [Katie] going to be standing there when we all get there, when I get there, when you get there and she’s going to say what took y’all so long to get here,” Noble said. “I have been waiting because you know in heaven time stops, that’s why it’s called eternity.”
While her faith makes things bearable, Noble said there are still really hard days. Like March 15, Katie’s birthday.
Noble, who typically wakes up around 3:30 each morning, was dreading getting out of bed. But that day, she received a letter that would make things a whole lot better.
Katie had been an advocate for organ donors because she saw the impact that it had on her grandfather. He received a liver transplant that helped extend his life by 10 years.
The author of the letter that Noble received that day was the recipient of Katie’s heart.
“It was about four or five pages, basically it included the fact that he was so grateful, he would never, never take for granted the gift that he received,” Noble said. “Because without it, he wouldn’t be here.”
Noble said the man, whose identity is being withheld for privacy reasons, expressed interest in meeting Katie’s family and detailed his path to recovery. He also shared that because of the heart transplant, he would be around to see his first grandchild.
The man wasn’t the only one who had been blessed by Katie. Others received her kidneys and tissue, while her brain went to research.
Noble said knowing Katie was able to help people, even after her death, brings her joy.
“I get to take joy in that, it doesn’t make me sad,” Noble said. “‘It’s like I experience her cause she has enabled him to have that joy.”
According to Organdonor.gov, over 100,000 people need an organ. Tennessee Donor Services told News 19 that it can assist and provide resources for those considering donation, and you can sign up here.
Noble said that she would encourage everyone to be an organ donor because she has seen the impact of both giving and receiving organs.
“It has changed our lives so much,” Noble said. “I’ve been on both sides of the fence and if I could donate every single part of my body, I would.”
Noble said Katie would be happy to know that her legacy is leaving a tremendous impact on total strangers.
“She would be ecstatic that she was just able to help someone else, she really would,” Noble said.
The post Katie’s Gift: How a North Alabama grad saved lives after she died appeared first on WHNT.
