Nonprofit helps reunite organ donor families

SAN DIEGO — A La Mesa man who died in a car accident two years ago was honored today for helping others.

Peyton Nurse was 21 years old at the time of her death and had been designated as an organ donor. After his death, he was able to save the lives of three people, including his father in Arizona, who was on the heart transplant list.

On Friday, the Nurse family met Harley and Justin’s baby girl, Peyton, for the first time.

“The name Peyton was our choice before Livi, so when we found out the donor’s name was Peyton, it made sense,” Harley Duffer said.

Harley Duffer’s donor was Peyton Nurse, a 21-year-old California State University, Northridge, La Mesa graduate who died in a car accident in 2022.

“Babies have meanings and stories behind their names, and we are all connected in the same way,” said Leslie Nurse, Peyton’s mother.

Payton carried on that love by donating his heart and kidney to his then 25-year-old father in Arizona.

Duffer was born with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD), an inherited heart disease, and required a third heart transplant, which doctors say is extremely rare. That’s what it means.

“I’m standing here today because of Peyton’s act of love and selflessness,” Duffer said.

Nurse Peyton was known for her kindness.

“Peyton loved like Jesus because he wanted to show love as close to unconditional love as possible. I don’t think anyone else loves like Peyton,” Nurse said.

Peyton’s father, retired U.S. Navy Captain Nigel Nurse, officially said: life sharingthe organization that coordinated the nurse’s organ donation and this reunion.

“This is not just about one family, it’s about organ donation and how important it is,” the nurse said.

But when he talked about his son, he spoke from the heart.

“I spent quite a bit of time in the military, and I always thought the people who leave us are the kindest people. And my son is truly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.” It was a person,” the nurse said.

That gift of kindness lives on as the family listens to Duffer’s heartbeat.

“This is the heartbeat that I’ve been hearing for almost 23 years,” Leslie Nurse said.

The strength of his heartbeat is a gift of life that helped create new life.

“If it wasn’t for Peyton, my Peyton wouldn’t be here. That’s to be expected, and there’s no other way around it,” Duffer said.

life sharing is a federally designated Organ Donation Procurement Organization (OPO) serving San Diego and Imperial Counties in Southern California.

Peyton donated his heart, kidneys and lungs.

To learn more about organ donation, click here here.

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