Brigham Young University’s running back coach Reno Mahe and his family have decided to donate the organs of their three-year-old daughter who was hospitalized due to a tragic accident at the family’s home last week.
Elsie Mahe was playing with a friend when a cord from the window blinds tangled around her neck, rendering her unconscious, Fox News reports. Sunny, Elsie’s mother, found the little girl and began performing CPR on her to revive her. Paramedics arrived to transport the child to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
It was not clear how long Elsie had gone without oxygen, and an MRI showed extensive brain damage as a result. She was intubated and placed on a respirator, but continued to deteriorate.
On a GoFundMe page, the Mahe family said they had met with the director of the hospital’s organ donation team to discuss how Elsie could help save others. Sunny wrote on the page,
The miraculous healing we have been praying for is not FOR Elsie, but FROM Elsie.
She said, “We met this morning with a representative from the hospital organ donation team and feel confident that this is the Lord’s will for Elsie – to be a life saving miracle for others. It is not the miracle that we wanted, but it is the one we got. It is still a miracle.”
Sunny added that her daughter is not in pain. In her latest post, she said, “We do not have a timeline for how long this transition will take.” Support has flowed in from members of the NCAA and the community, with BYU and Utah State wearing pink – Elsie’s favorite color – to the game on Saturday.
Sunny likewise wrote on GoFundMe to thank everyone who has helped them through the ordeal. She said, “I believe it to be the reason I have not fallen to pieces and am able to be a strength to my family. May the Lord bless each of you for your caring and kindness to my family.”
