‘They could have everything of Mats, except his eyes and skin’

After a night out with friends, Mats gets into a serious accident on his way home and ends up in the hospital. "Mats was an applied sciences mathematics student," his mother Litania says. "He was preparing for a follow-up study at TU Delft. But during that period, he was mostly involved with the student association. Mats loved being with friends. They would see each other privately or go out together. He was very smart and full of trivia. He could almost run all-evening programs with that, he was a real entertainer. Cheerful, spontaneous, social, that's the way he was."

Let's talk

When Niels and Litania traveled back to the Netherlands after their holiday in Italy, they received a phone call from their other son. He was glued to his brother's hospital bed. Mats was in very critical condition. Niels recounts: 'His doctor was Diederik Gommers. Two days after the accident, he asked us: can we talk in the room next door for a moment? Then we knew things weren't good. He indeed didn't have good news, because further treatment no longer made sense. Mats showed no reaction whatsoever to stimuli.'

Article in the newspaper

Litania: "We immediately thought of donation and asked if Mats would be a good donor, even before Diederik had brought it up. Diederik replied that Mats was certainly suitable. Mats was registered as 'no objection' in the Donor Register. And after that conversation, we heard from my parents that Mats had talked to them about it three days before the accident. When he was visiting his grandparents, the newspaper had been on the table with an article about organ donation in it. Mats had then spontaneously said: they can have everything from me, except my eyes and skin. He thought it was important that you can save lives with donation."

Active registration

For Litania and Niels, this is special. Niels: ‘It’s fantastic that he said that. That as a result, we knew exactly what he did and didn’t want. And that he was actually able to donate his organs. Now something positive has come out of something tragic after all, because Mats was able to save 5 people with 7 organs. Mats no longer had any use for them and has made others happy with them. It feels good that he helped others. We also told our story on TV and heard back from people that they found it powerful. And that they also actively registered, instead of the automatic "no objection" that is there if you do nothing yourself.’

Talk about it

They both find it important to consciously register and indicate what you want. Litania says: 'Suppose Mats hadn't indicated this. Then that would have been a concern for us in deciding the right thing. It is so important that youtalk about this with your loved ones. So that they know what you would want.’ Niels nods. ‘Since Mats passed away, I’ve talked about it a lot with others. I then ask: do you know what your partner wants, for example? Talk about it, ask. Many people put in the register: my next of kin will decide. But do they know what a difficult choice they have to make then? Do they have an answer ready?’ Litania nods and says: ‘It is such a shame when perfect organs are lost when it isn’t clear what someone wants. You can prevent that by talking about it and recording a conscious choice.’