Blog: LCF Man Whose Son was Fatally Shot by Robbers to Speak about Organ Donation

Imagine vacationing in Italy with your family and you are victims of a attempted highway robbery. As you try to escape, your young son is shot in the head by two men. This happened to a La Canada family.

While the Green family traveled in Italy in 1994, their 7 year-old-son, Nicholas, was mortally wounded from gun shots to the back of their car. The parents, Reg and Maggie, rushed their son to a hospital. Unfortunately, he died the following day. The Green family decided to donate his organs to children in Italy in need of transplantation. His major organs went to five different people and his corneas went to two different people.

While the Greens lived in Northern California at the time of their son's death, they have since moved to La Cañada.

Watch a You Tube video here that shows images of Nicholas, and features Reg explaining what the donations have meant to his family, and others.  

The reaction to this act of kindness reverberated throughout Italy and the world and resulted in an increased awareness of the need for organ donation. The publicity in Italy resulted in an overwhelming outpouring of affection and admiration for the Greens and Nicholas.

April is Donate Life Month. On Thursday April 4th at 1:00 p.m., The La Canada Thursday Club invites members of the community to attend a free Community Relations Committee event and tea. 

Come meet the keynote speaker Reg Green. He and his wife, Maggie live in the community and have created The Nicholas Green Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the cause of organ and tissue donation around the world.

Reg Green is also the author of the highly acclaimed book, The Nicholas Effect.

For program information contact Barbara Self at 818-790-8807. The La Canada Thursday Club is located at 3440 Woodleigh Lane, La Canada. Admission to the event is free.