Leslie Bailey

leslie.bailey@indystar.com

Dear Todd,

You wanted me to write a story about you, and I said that I would. I wasn't sure how to approach it, though, because the truth is lots of people need new hearts. "What makes him so special?" people would ask.

I would gladly tell them about what a loyal friend you were. I would share with pride your passion for styling hair and how when people left your chair, they felt as good on the inside as they did on the outside (minus the one time you convinced me I should do a braided up-do, that was a disaster).

I would explain how your eyes lit up when talking about a new Mid-Century modern furniture score or your next artistic endeavor. I would describe your razor-sharp sense of humor, which, might I add, you maintained while lying flat on your back in a hospital bed with a balloon pumping your heart. You were trying to manage everyone else's pain, making them more comfortable because, although you wouldn't want to admit it, you were that selfless. It was that selflessness that inspired you to become an organ donor.

I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to write about your Go Fund Me campaign to pay for the medical bills that piled up during the past year. I'm sorry I didn't tell the world about the fantastic nurses at Methodist Hospital who put up with your gaggle of girlfriends who visited during your six-week stay. I'm sorry that you'll never read this.

A week or so after your funeral, I called your sister, Tiffany. We had never met, but I told her I was going to write a story about you. We talked about your medical history — how your heart attack came out of the blue. We talked about the process of getting you on the transplant list and what a nightmare insurance can be. We talked about how quickly it happened — how you died just four days after you came home from the hospital in October. Tiffany explained to me that your family made the decision to keep you on life support after the stroke, because they knew that if there was any chance your organs could be given to someone else, you would want to help. When she told me things didn't work out that way, I knew what you would want me to do.

So I'm writing this for the nearly 1,500 Indiana residents who are waiting organ, eye or tissue transplant and the 120,000 on waiting lists for an organ in the United States. I'm writing this for you.

There's no saying whether you'd still be here today had a match been found for your heart. But when someone you love asks you do something, you do it. You do it because you're lucky enough to know first-hand what it is that makes them so special. And you would give anything to have just one more day of it.

Call Star reporter Leslie Bailey at (317) 444-6094. Follow her on Twitter: @Lesalina and on Facebook.com/Lesalina.

How to register as a organ donor

The doctors never found a heart that was quite right for Todd Shrider. Shortly after receiving a LVAD (left ventricular assist device), he suffered a stroke and was put on life support. He passed away at the age of 38 on Oct. 19, 2014 and I've missed him every day since.

According to the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization, more than 3.5 million Hoosiers have registered their decision to be an organ and tissue donor.

If you're reading this and you aren't registered as an organ donor, please consider doing so at organdonor.gov or donatelifeindiana.org. You can also register your decision to become an organ and tissue donor when renewing or updating your driver's license at the BMV.