She was diagnosed with a brain tumor in May 2004, while a freshman at Drexel University. She underwent two surgeries that summer, followed by chemotherapy.

The tumor grew back aggressively in May 2005. In June she suffered a seizure, which sent her into a coma. She emerged from the coma and was transported to Duke University Hospital for a potential third surgery.

Maryann Deans, 51, of Zebulon, was fighting a genetic condition she had never heard of in July 2005. When she was in her 30s, she had pneumonia. Many years of lung ailments and deterioration had followed.

Deans had been on the lung transplant list for about six months by that July.

Bob Potts, 51, of Jacksonville, Fla., was fighting a cancer in July 2005. He needed a new liver because of a tumor caused by hepatitis C.

"I had four failed attempts -- donations that didn't work out," Potts said. Transplants did not take place either because his own health was too poor, another recipient was moved up on the list or the donor's liver was not viable.

On all four occasions Potts traveled from Florida to Duke University to prepare for surgery, only to ultimately be sent home. His window of opportunity was closing because his liver and health would soon be too compromised for the surgery.

On July 18, 2005, Lauren lost her battle. Her father, Michael Fitzgerald of West Reading, Pa., recalled how doctors kept her on a ventilator for a time after her death so her blood remained oxygenated and her organs viable.

He accompanied Lauren as surgeons prepared her for organ donation surgery. He was allowed a few minutes alone with Lauren before doctors took her to the operating room.

"I told her it was time for me to go, that we were going to honor her final wish to help others," Michael wrote nine months later in an e-mail to friends. "With a final 'I love you, Lauren,' I stood up and watched as she was wheeled into the operating room."

That day, Deans began her healing.

"I felt a difference as soon as I opened my eyes, even with my respirator," said Deans, who has had no problems with rejection since the transplant.

That day, Potts began his healing.

"The liver began functioning almost before they were ready; it produced bile before they even had it all hooked up," said Potts, who has been healthy ever since.

That day, Michael Fitzgerald began his healing, but it would be a long road.

"At the funeral home she looked peaceful, beautiful," Fitzgerald said in his e-mail message. "She was so selfless, so generous. Just ask the people who received those organs."