By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

GRIEVING family, friends and colleagues bade farewell to Inspector Tomas McIntosh, an officer involved in a catastrophic road accident while on duty last week, during an emotional ceremony at Doctor’s Hospital before his organs were donated yesterday.

McIntosh, 33, was seriously injured on Sir Milo Butler Highway last Wednesday after a passing vehicle struck him.

His family made the difficult decision to donate his organs after doctors declared him brain dead.

Many gathered yesterday for the Hero’s Walk, where medical staff took him to the operating room to begin the procurement procedure.

His relatives cried and his colleagues saluted him. Others sang “The Wind Beneath My Wings” as his body left the hospital’s hallway.

Deputy Police Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux said the donation was what McIntosh would have wanted.

“He’s always been a caring person who always looked out for others,” he said. “He went beyond the call of duty of looking out for his colleagues and anyone he came into contact with so he would not have any issue.”

Hospital president and CEO Dr Charles W Diggiss thanked the man’s family for their cooperation, saying the donation will save multiple lives.

“Almost over a decade ago was the last opportunity to do a multi-organ system procurement on a Bahamian patient,” he said. “These are opportunities that allow almost deceased to bring life and bring function to others, and it’s an amazing gift based on the variety of tissues and organ systems that are indeed procured and harvested during this procedure.”

Dr Sheena Antonio-Collie, the hospital’s chief medical officer, encouraged relatives facing similar situations to consider letting their loved ones become donors. She said a national effort around this would reduce the burden on technologies that require a lot of money, such as dialysis.

“This will also help people in terms of their lifestyles, extending life, so we are very excited about what we’re about to embark on, and this is such a step in the right direction,” she said.

Dr Rhea Thurston-Carrroll, a kidney transplant physician, added: “The goal is to help to start a programme where we look at donation not only from a living standpoint but from a deceased standpoint. With the high burden of kidney disease in country, we are going to be able to save lives. Now with the deceased donation, we are going to move forward and put policy and procedures in place so that when these circumstances arise, we are going to be able to do some further good and promote health in the country.”

Police said they are continuing their investigation to determine whether the person who hit Inspector McIntosh will be charged with a crime.