During winter break from MSU, Peter Welsch and his mother discussed a news story about organ donation that flashed across the TV screen in the kitchen of their Tawas City home.

Curious about her son's own wishes, Debra Welsch asked if he would donate his organs when he passed away.

"He just kind of put his hands on his hips and gave my mom a quizzical look like 'Why wouldn't I?'" said his brother, Andy Welsch, retelling the events of that day.

None of them had any idea of the importance of that conversation.

About two weeks later, Peter Welsch, a computer engineering freshman, died due to complications from wisdom teeth extraction.

"It's almost like he knew, and he was telling us beforehand," said his brother, a telecommunication, information studies and media junior.

Advocates of organ donation say they hope more families like the Welsches will discuss their wishes, as waiting-list numbers continue to increase each day.

About 80 percent of Americans understand the advantages of organ donation and approve of it, but only 28 percent have given legal permission to release their organs when they die, according to a Gallup poll reported by ABC News.

Peter Welsch became one of those donors in January.

A week before classes resumed, the Welsch brothers traveled to an Alpena oral surgeon to have their wisdom teeth removed. Peter Welsch volunteered to go first.

During the procedure, a piece of gauze became lodged in his airway, which deprived his brain of oxygen. He was revived and sent to an Alpena hospital, but was brain-dead for the remainder of his hospitalization.

"All I could see was a shell, my brother wasn't in there anymore," Andy Welsch said about his visit later that night. "So I walked out of the ICU, propped myself up against a wall and just tried not to fall over."

As the night progressed and Peter Welsch's status deteriorated, the family discussed its options. The conversation that took place in the kitchen just weeks before turned out to be a crucial factor.

Andy Welsch said his family was hesitant about the decision to donate at first, but knew there was no better way to honor his brother.

"That was our way of giving back to him, by doing as he asked to have his organs donated," he said.

At 10 a.m. the next day, the hospital staff pronounced Peter Welsch dead.

Staff from the organ recovery agency Gift of Life met with the family and set up plans for organ donation. Teams from as far as Toronto arrived at the hospital to retrieve organs, tissues, corneas, veins and blood for about 60 to 80 people on the transplant waiting list, according to information the family later received from Gift of Life.

"I was really surprised," said Peter Welsch's father, Michael. "I still don't realize what they all take."

The Welsches know their actions are what Peter Welsch would want. Not only did he state his wishes, but they said his giving nature solidified their decision.

He routinely helped a 90-year-old woman shop at the local grocery store where he worked. He also volunteered for 4-H Exceptional Equestrians, a program that assists mentally disabled children with horse riding.

"It makes us feel a little better ? knowing Peter is still alive inside people," his father said.

Andy Welsch lived two doors away from his brother on the second floor of Case Hall. James Madison freshman Terry McGovern now lives alone in the room that he was supposed to share with Peter Welsch this semester.

McGovern said he takes comfort in knowing that his friend helped a number of people.

"I thought it was a good thing to come out of a bad thing," he said. "We were just trying to look at the bright side of stuff and that was one of them."

Although the Welsch family is happy with the impact their decision made on others' lives, his father expressed some concern about the Gift of Life's communication after the distribution of organs. The group told the Welsches they would be contacted within two weeks, but Michael Welsch says it took much longer.

"I was expecting things to happen and they didn't happen, and it just added stress that I didn't need," he said.

A Gift of Life official said the organization tries its best to communicate with families as quickly as possible, but had a slower response time in January due to a record number of donors.

Still, the Welsches remain confident in their decision to donate.

"I'm happy with the fact that some people lived because of Peter," said his father.

Andy Welsch says the decision also comforted him and his parents during the grieving process.

"It's a definite way to put your family members at peace," he said. "It helped our family immensely to know that he's helped so many people."

The family members say they hope to meet those whose lives their brother and son touched and saved.

"Your loss, while bad, could also mean someone's joy," Andy Welsch said. "That's how we chose to look at it."

Renewed vision

As doctors prepared Patrick Pruitt for surgery 13 years ago, he noticed a massive machine containing scented gas that would put him to sleep for a life-altering operation to restore his sight.

"It was blurry, but just because it was so big and it was so seemingly important at the time, I can sort of remember it," said Pruitt, now a psychology junior.

The medical staff at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor provided Pruitt with a new cornea when he was 6 years old.

Although he recalls the major events of that day, many details of his young life are somewhat fuzzy.

Pruitt loved to read as a child and often chose books over watching television. But at the age of 6, he could no longer enjoy either activity.

Over time, his parents picked up on the problem and began giving their son vision tests, which eventually led to a doctor's office visit. Scaring from a herpes-type infection in Pruitt's left eye had set a gradual loss of sight in motion.

"It sort of robbed me of doing the things that I enjoyed doing," Pruitt said.

The blindness kept him from playing Legos and reading books, and even hindered his friendships.

Pruitt's parents placed their son on the cornea transplant waiting list as soon as possible. Six weeks later, a year after the change in vision began, he was admitted to Mott, where his vision and life would be restored.

"Just as the vision had slowly gone out, it slowly came back in," Pruitt said.

"It was completely healed within a few years of the surgery."

His parents also noticed the difference.

"You could see, as his sight increased, him going back to the things he always liked to do," Lynn Pruitt said about her son's progress.

After the transplant, he wrote a letter to the family of the donor who had supplied his new cornea.

"At that point, I couldn't fully comprehend what a tough decision that must have been, but at the same time, I could still appreciate the gift that had been given to me," he said.

"If that one family hadn't decided to donate their loved one's tissues, my life would be extremely different."

Pruitt's operation also brought to his attention the need for organ donation. He started ambassador work and became the poster child for programs like the Michigan Eye-Bank and Gift of Life Michigan.

"I think I am slowly being phased out," Pruitt said jokingly. "When I was young and cute, they would call me all the time to go give speeches."

Today, Pruitt attends MSU and says it is hard to imagine what college would be like without sight, especially as a book and horror movie enthusiast.

Even though Ross O'Hara didn't know Pruitt before his surgery, he doesn't believe his childhood friend would be drastically different if he still couldn't see.

"I think anyone would probably change in some way if they had impaired vision," he said. "I still think he'd be a really good person, I don't think that much could change about him."

O'Hara says Pruitt's past blindness isn't an issue he discusses often.

"Obviously, there are moments when I don't think about it, but then from time to time there's always something that brings me back," Pruitt said.

The effects of his new vision even touched the relationship with his parents.

"I think we've grown closer, because we've spent so much time together in doctors' offices and just being together and talking about it," his mother said.

Pruitt hopes to share his story with his future children as he continues to spread awareness about organ donation.

"I'll certainly always hold the attitude of wanting to create greater awareness for organ donation, because it's had such a positive impact on my life."

Myths about organ donation

Frustrated organ donation advocates say rumors and stereotypes surrounding the process often stand in their way when recruiting donors, especially college-aged candidates.

Although many people recognize the benefit of organ donation, a number still are hesitant to sign the donor registry.

Amy Olszewski, youth education coordinator at Gift of Life Michigan, credits urban legends as a cause for the lack of awareness at the college level. A popular folk tale involves people waking up at a party in a bathtub of ice with their kidneys removed.

"The little things are what stick in people's minds," she said.

Even Peter Welsch's friend McGovern said he was told that if he signed up as a donor, and ended up in the hospital in a life-or-death situation, the doctor would not save him because they could help others by donating his organs instead.

But McGovern didn't believe the story and chose to sign up as a donor anyway.

"It would be against medicine itself to do it in that fashion," says Dr. John Gerlach, director of MSU's Tissue Typing Laboratory. At the lab, employees match tissue types of donors and recipients for transplantation.

The groups that deal with donations work separately from the doctors in critical situations, and every measure is taken to save the patient before donation is even brought into the picture, he said.

Rumors of "black markets" for organs also plague the efforts of donation programs. Gift of Life Data Specialist Evelyn Commings acknowledges a problem with organ trafficking overseas, but says she hasn't heard of any cases in the United States.

The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 makes it illegal to buy or sell organs.

"I don't believe it happens, if it does, it's an extreme rarity," Gerlach said. "The system is set up so it doesn't."

Religion is another factor that sometimes steers churchgoers clear of donation, but Pastor Michael Zuberbier of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Tawas City says it is widely accepted within his parish.

"The scriptures certainly doesn't forbid it," he said. "If somebody can benefit from one's death that's a good thing I'd say ? we benefited from our Lord's death."

Andy Welsch, a member of Emanuel Lutheran, said his family's decision to donate his brother's organs had no bearing on their religion, and anyone of any faith should do the same.

"It's really helped my own personal faith," he said. "I think that was his gift to me."

A 2002 study conducted by The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health said religious misconceptions are common among nondonors, even though most major religions support organ donation.

Despite the rumors, Olszewski said she finds that students are more open to discussing death than other age groups.

There are more than 84,000 people waiting for organs nationally, according to statistics from United Network for Organ Sharing. Last year, nearly 1,600 of those waiting were between 18 and 22 years old.

In January, two student groups from MSU and University of Michigan started a competitive organ drive with Gift of Life.

Although the interest is growing among younger candidates, Commings hasn't seen a dramatic change in the number of donors.

"I do see more and more people signing up to receive organs," she said.

A need for livers in particular is increasing steadily among all age groups, which Commings thinks might be caused by the rise of Hepatitis C. Since January, 19 people have been added to the waiting list in Michigan, five of which requested livers.

About 10 people die each month in Michigan of the more than 2,000 people waiting for organs, Commings said.

Olszewski said there would be no need for a waiting list in Michigan if every family who qualified consented to organ donation at the time of a loved one's death.

She also said signing the back of a driver's license isn't enough to make the wish to donate valid. Those interested in donating should sign the Secretary of State donor registry, available online or by mail, and discuss their decision with their families.

"It's a relief to know that the burden of the decision isn't there," she said. "Nobody likes to talk about something like that, but you have to talk about it."

Gerlach says the criteria that makes an acceptable donor has expanded over the years. However, he believes controversy and debate will continue as the use of stem cells and xenotransplantation, involving animal donors, develop.

"People are being creative simply because there is such a need," he said.

Claire Cummings can be reached at cummin94@msu.edu.