Pennsylvania hospital employees line halls to honor late nurse-turned-organ donor

After devoting 30 years to the medical field, nurse Mary Desin died of a brain aneurysm in May. But her service would extend beyond her short 58 years.

According to Good Morning America, Desin had arranged for her liver and kidneys to be donated to continue saving lives even after death. To honor the late nurse, hospital employees lined the halls of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Hamot hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, for a final send-off as Desin's family wheeled the nurse to the operating room where her organs were donated.

“It was extremely emotional,” Mary's son, Matthew James Desin, told GMA. “Most everybody was crying. People I didn't even know came up to me during the time and said how much they loved her and she helped them get further in their career.”

The hospital also honored Desin as a donor by switching on three lights at the top of the building, a symbolic gesture signifying someone had received an organ transplant.

Want to become an organ donor yourself? Learn more about how at organdonor.gov.