It gives a new meaning to “precious cargo.”
As part of FOX 13’s partnership with DonorConnect, we’re giving you an inside look at the incredible coordination that goes into getting donated organs where they need to go — and the Utah team that makes it happen.
Have you ever wondered how a life-saving organ gets from point A to point B? In Utah, that responsibility falls to Lacy Sylvia, the transportation manager for DonorConnect, and her dedicated team.
“We do this behind-the-scenes work that other people don’t really know about,” Sylvia said. When a hospital identifies a potential donor, Sylvia’s team steps in immediately.
“When we receive a referral from a hospital here locally for a potential donor, we come on site and we start that whole process,” she explained.From screening and matching to coordinating transportation, Sylvia’s team ensures every organ and every person involved gets where they need to go — quickly and safely.
“That can look like a couple different things,” she said. “It can be just transporting it from one hospital to another... so our team can really handle any organ at any time.”
Hearts, lungs, livers and other organs are typically transported by ground. That means Sylvia’s drivers are always on call.
“We could be asked to go at any time,” she said. “So we have multiple drivers on in 12-hour shifts.”Sometimes, they have less than half an hour to get moving.
“We sometimes have as little as 30 minutes notice,” Sylvia said.
Kidneys, however, often need to travel farther — even across the country.
“We literally get on a commercial flight with the organ in hand,” Sylvia said. “We work with whatever airline we’re flying out of, and we stay with that organ the entire flight.”
She recalled one recent case that shows just how unpredictable the process can be.
“One of our drivers, Lisa, got on a plane to Newark, New Jersey, and by the time she landed, that kidney had been declined,” Sylvia said. “So she was able to run to the counter, get on a plane back here to Salt Lake City. By the time she landed, our coordinator said, ‘Hey, I think we may have a home,’ and she still had the kidney in hand. She got to California and that was able to get to a recipient.”
For Sylvia, the work is more than just logistics — it’s deeply personal.
“My brother, Brandon, was a donor in Texas seven years ago,” she said. “He was able to donate all of his major organs and saved five, I think five or six people.”
That experience inspired her to join DonorConnect.
“I knew when I came home from that experience, I’d like to at least volunteer and help here,” Sylvia said.Now, with every case she oversees and every family she supports, Sylvia thinks of her own.
“We took so much comfort in the fact that he was able to help others,” she said. “We want to make sure that, like my family, when we chose to move forward with my brother’s wishes, that that’s really fulfilled.”
Each time her team gets the call, Sylvia is reminded of the mission that drives them — honoring every donor’s final gift.
“We want to make sure that those families going through something so terrible know that we will make sure those wishes and those gifts are honored always,” she said.