Organ donors and recipients meet on Long Island to share their stories

MANHASSET (WABC) -- They're different stories with one common thread: the power of organ donations.

On Tuesday, three families gathered in Manhasset to share their experiences and how their lives were changed.

Stephen Valsechi, 26 when he was killed in an accident, was an organ donor. His mother Margaret counts four people whose lives continued because of him.

"One was a 17-year old who had been on dialysis for three years, got a kidney. Another 42-year old got a kidney, then a 40-year old got his liver and 25-year old Bobby got his heart," said Margaret Valsechi.

Bobby went on to marry and have two adorable babies.

"The babies call me Nanny Mags and they're coming to visit this summer for three weeks," said Margaret.

This is about joy, and life and death. And these stories are emotional.

Jose Soto was there because his daughter, Aliana, was a match and gave her a kidney. Little 16-month old Hudson Savanna needed two corneas to fix her eyes and see her mother's face for the first time.

"Just knowing what parts of the child were a gift and what the parents went through," said the girl's mother, Desiree Maldonado Mitchell. "Losing their child but giving my child the chance to see, and then days later they took off her bandages and she saw my face."

And Steven's mother talks about the miraculous moment she heard her son's heart beat, again.

"Took my hand, put it on his chest and then I was able to lean down and hear my son's heart beating in his chest," she said. "Most incredible feeling I have ever felt."

The beautiful thing is everyday nationwide, 75 people will get an organ transplant. At the same time, 20 will die waiting.

The mere moments it takes to become an organ donor can change lives forever.

For more information on organ donation, please visit:

http://www.organdonor.gov/index.html