In many ways, the daily activity of the critical care unit continued as normal Thursday afternoon at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital.
Nurses and doctors tended to patients in the second-floor unit. Families waited and hoped for any good news on their loved ones. Supplies moved through the hallways.
But something extraordinary also happened: A young man at the end of his life was transported down hallways lined with hundreds of friends, family members, fellow students and hospital employees in a silent and powerful tribute to him and his decision to be an organ donor.
While West Valley High School senior Fritz Weresch’s life was ended this past week by a sudden illness, family and friends said his good nature, kindness and generous spirit will live on in others thanks to his decision to donate.
“This is Fritz’s gift, freely given … he understood about organ donation, and wanted to do it,” his mother, Eileen Weresch-Doornink, told at least 150 West Valley students packed into the hospital auditorium, shortly before the honor walk ceremony. Many more students, parents and school personnel listened outside in the auditorium hallway.
Weresch-Doornink and other family members invited the Yakima Herald-Republic to be present and photograph Fritz during the honor walk.
Brian Gregory, family services coordinator with the LifeCenter Northwest organization, helped Fritz’s parents, Wes and Eileen, and hospital personnel carry out his wishes for organ donation.
“I have had the privilege of being with Fritz’s family the past few days,” Gregory told the auditorium crowd. “Today we stand in honor of a true hero.”
The honor walk
While infrequent, honor walks allowing family and friends to salute organ donors have happened before at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, said Bridget Turrell, marketing and communications manager.
Usually, about 10 to 12 close friends and family members will walk with the donor, who is on life support to keep the organs alive, from the critical care unit to the operating room, Turrell said. The hospital staff members are also invited to the honor walks and often participate to show appreciation to the organ donor, she added.
Thursday’s walk was by far the largest Turrell knew of, with the route extended over the hospital’s second-floor sky bridge to allow several hundred people, many of them Fritz’s WVHS classmates, to line the hallways as he passed by.
“This honor walk is unprecedented, to have this many people,” Turrell said.
Following Weresch-Doornink’s and Gregory’s remarks in the auditorium, the students and others were led by hospital personnel from the basement to the second floor in five separate groups.
They lined the hallways from the double doors of the critical care rooms, past the family waiting room and nursing station, and across the glass-enclosed sky bridge to the elevator that would transport Fritz and his family down one floor to the operating room.
Five minutes before the honor walk, an announcement cut through the nearly-silent CCU hallways informing hospital employees that they were welcome to participate. Many did.
Just after 1:30 p.m., the soft strum of acoustic guitars played by two friends could be heard as Fritz Weresch, on life support machines, was wheeled down the hallway by a hospital nurse. His parents, other family members and close friends walked behind him.
Complete silence gave way to sniffles and muffled sobs as the emotional journey continued. As the procession ended, students, family and friends hugged one another, cried and wiped away tears.
“The honor walk that took place was a powerful and overwhelming show of love and support for and from a community in grief,” Gregory, of LifeCenter Northwest, told the Herald-Republic on Friday.
“Our hope is that donors are honored for their life-saving gifts, and that was certainly true for Fritz as his courageous and thoughtful decision to help others was honored,” Gregory added.
He said the honor walk could not have happened without the support and coordination among Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, West Valley High School, Fritz’s family, and LifeCenter Northwest.
‘He was about including everybody’
Both before the honor walk and afterward, family members and teachers from West Valley High School discussed Fritz’s interests and care for other students, whether they were friends or not.
Craig Lacy, a longtime teacher, coach and former activities director at West Valley, also knew Fritz as one of his son’s good friends. Lacy helped organize the participation of students in Thursday’s honor walk. He had Fritz as a history student and for four years in his homeroom class.
He noted Fritz’s role in the WVHS marching band as a tuba player, his membership in the school’s wind ensemble, and his leadership in the high school German club — evidenced by several posters Thursday written in German. Fritz also was a big part of the school’s Synergy Club, which Lacy said was about promoting acceptance of everyone.
“That was Fritz — he was about including everybody,” Lacy said. “The number of kids he touched ... he was friends with a lot of them, but a lot of students just knew him because he was a nice guy and always open and available to others.”
Because he also knew Fritz as a friend of his son, Rory, the past few weeks of illness and hospitalization were even more difficult for Lacy, but he said Thursday’s honor walk helped.
“My heart was breaking for this past week or so, having to say goodbye to him … but today, for the first time in a week, I could actually smile about what was happening,” Lacy said. “These kids that came today are awesome. To have them come out for this just fills my heart.”
Lacy said he also was encouraged to hear Thursday that several of Fritz’s organs -- including his liver, lungs and heart — already had waiting donors.
It reminded Lacy of another WVHS student, Gavin Gill, who died in 2019 and also was an organ donor. Lacy said 27 of Gill’s organs or tissue ended up helping other people.
Knowing that his organs would help others, as he wished, also provided Fritz’s parents some comfort amid their grief, his mother said.
“He was a friend to all who needed a friend — I’ve heard that so many times this week,” Eileen Weresch-Doornink said. “He was one-of-a-kind, and was loved without measure.
“Everyone in that (operating) room who is working hard to preserve Fritz’s precious gifts, they will feel the presence of his love.”
