'Mats said they could have everything, except for 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 a university student studying mathematics,' says his mother, Litania. 'He was preparing for a follow-up study at TU Delft. But during that time, he was mostly busy with his student association. Mats loved being with friends. They would see each other privately or at a night out. He was very smart and full of trivia. He could almost fill an entire evening with that; he was a real entertainer. Cheerful, spontaneous, social—that’s who he was.'

A quick talk

When Niels and Litania traveled back to the Netherlands after their vacation in Italy, they were called by their other son. He was glued to his brother's hospital bed. Mats was in very serious condition. Niels says: 'His doctor was Diederik Gommers. Two days after the accident, he asked us: can we talk in the room next door? We knew then that it wasn't good. He indeed had no good news, because further treatment no longer made sense. Mats showed no reaction to stimuli.'

Newspaper article

Litania: 'We immediately thought about 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, a newspaper had been on the table with an article about organ donation in it. Mats had spontaneously said: they can have everything of mine, 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 is fantastic that he said that. That because of it, we knew exactly what he did and did not want. And that he was actually able to donate his organs. Now, something positive has come out of something tragic, because Mats was able to save 5 people with 7 organs. Mats had no use for them anymore and 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 registered actively, instead of the automatic 'no objection' that is there if you don't do anything yourself.'

Talk about it

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