CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Milisa Tyler of Marshalltown, right, is pictured with her son, the late Dominic “DJ” Ogden, left, an organ donor who passed away in 2020. Tyler, an employee of the Iowa Donor Network, will be honored as part of the 2024 One Legacy Donate Life Rose Parade Float in Pasadena, Calif., highlighting the power of organ, eye and tissue donation.

Milisa Tyler lost her son Dominic Ogden — known to family and friends as DJ — to suicide in 2020, but through organ donation, Ogden has lived on and saved at least four other lives since then.

Tyler, who has lived in Marshalltown since 2021, is one of two Iowans who will be honored in Pasadena, Calif., during the upcoming Rose Parade held on New Year’s Day every year before the iconic football game between the best teams in the Big 10 and Pac 12. She said Dominic, who grew up in the Des Moines area, simply said yes to becoming an organ donor at the counter when he was getting his driver’s license as a teenager, and it wasn’t much of a conversation at the time.

He was just 25 when he passed.

“I knew that he was registered, so I followed his wishes without hesitation,” Tyler said.

She has been employed with the Iowa Donor Network since 2015, so Tyler had plenty of familiarity with the process. While she hasn’t written letters to the recipients yet as that will certainly be an emotional experience, she can proudly say that DJ saved four lives with his liver, heart and kidneys, and his tissue donation (skin) has been used to create eight transplant grafts, which help to aid in breast reconstruction surgery post mastectomy, abdominal wall repairs and ear nose and throat (ENT) surgeries.

“For the tissue donation, the gift of skin, those recipients, that information will trickle in because there’s a shelf life for that, whereas organs have to be transplanted immediately,” Tyler said. “So we’ll be getting more information as his grafts are used over time.”

While nothing will bring DJ back or soften the pain of his death, Tyler is thankful for her colleagues at the Iowa Donor Network who nominated her for the recognition and proud to be a spokesperson for such important work. The trip expenses will be covered by the Gerdin Charitable Foundation.

“His donation was the only good thing that came from losing him, so to be able to celebrate him and honor him in such a big way, it’s overwhelming and exciting and we so look forward to it,” she said. “We feel so blessed to be able to do this.”

To learn more about organ donation and/or make a financial contribution, visit www.iowadonornetwork.org or check the IDN out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/iowadonornetwork. Currently, there are 637 Iowans waiting for a donation. Tyler encouraged all Iowans to educate themselves and discover just how easy it is to become a donor.

——

Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.