As the 4th of July weekend approached, Sam Pifer was so excited to see his family and old high school buddies he left as soon as he ended his second-shift job in North Carolina so he could complete the 12-hour trip to northern Pennsylvania in time to surprise his mother.

Even during the first moments Pifer returned home on June 30 to Galeton, a small rural town in the Potter County, the 21-year-old knew his life would change from the trip as he told his mom, “I know God has a plan for me, and something great will happen this week. That’s why he brought me here.”

Less than three days later, Pifer, described as a soft-spoken, peaceful and caring person with a special gift for playing all kinds of drums, was lying near-death and unconscious in the intensive care unit at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.

Coupled with the shock that their son had just suffered a severe head injury from falling while trying to get out of his sister’s car amid a sibling dispute along Interstate 180 outside of Williamsport, the Pifers say they were surprised by another quandary: Should Sam’s organs be procured for organ donation?

His parents, Steve and Lore Pifer, claim they said no to repeated requests for permission by the organ donor program. In fact, the Pifers say they gave definitive instructions not to touch Sam’s body.

The Gift of Life Donor Program, which connects transplant hospitals with potential organ donors, said in retrospect the decision was already made by Sam when he agreed to be an organ donor when he got his driver’s license four years ago. And according to state law, the Gift of Life had all the rights to Sam’s organs.

Richard Hasz, vice president of clinical services for Gift of Life, says the interaction with patient families doesn’t change when the patient is a confirmed organ donor or when the circumstance needs authorization from a legal next of kin. What changes though, he says, is the approach.

“There’s two ways of approach,” Hasz said. “One is discussing choice, and the other is more of an explanation of disclosure and how the (organ procurement) process is going to work.”

Hasz wouldn’t say how the Pifers were approached due to company policy of not speaking on specific cases, but according to the Pifers, they were led to believe they had a choice. In fact, they left Geisinger on July 1 after Sam failed two neurological tests and was declared clinically brain dead with the understanding his body was being prepared for the funeral home, not prepped for organ procurement.

A call from a Geisinger official two hours into their trip home changed all of that when they were told Sam was a registered organ donor.

“We’re half way home when we’re told the Gift of Life people were planning on taking the organs,” Lore Pifer said. “How could this be? We said no, but we were told they had a legal right to do it based on Sam being listed as an organ donor on his license.”

Intensive care unit

When the family arrived at the hospital in the early morning hours of June 30, Steve Pifer said they were immediately informed about Sam’s dire outlook.

“They took us into a room with two Geisinger people, a nurse and the chaplain, and we knew right there it was bad,” Steve Pifer said. “The Gift of Life people were already there, and we were asked if he were to die, do we want to resuscitate him and donate his organs. We said to resuscitate him until we figure things out, but under no circumstances are they taking his organs.”

Lore Pifer said she was in shock after not knowing Sam’s severe condition as they drove three hours from Galeton to Danville.