Nicholas Green (File Photo – nicholasgreen.org)
Every October 1, Reg and Maggie Green remember the day their seven-year-old son, Nicholas, was killed during a family vacation in Italy. Highway robbers with ties to organized crime shot him in a senseless act that ended a child’s life and shattered a family.
By Janine Tedros
In the midst of unimaginable grief, Nicholas’s parents made a decision that transformed tragedy into an enduring gift: They donated his organs to five Italians who were near death. Three recipients are still alive 32 years later. The other two lived for 15 and 22 years with their transplants. Nicholas’s corneas also restored sight to two people facing blindness.
A child whose life was taken in an instant helped give years—decades, in some cases—to people he would never meet.
Since then, Reg and Maggie have devoted themselves to sharing Nicholas’s story and encouraging organ donation around the world. Their campaign has helped change attitudes, inspire families, and advance a movement that has given thousands of people the organs they needed to live. Professor Thomas Starzl, known as “the father of transplantation,” once wrote to Reg: “You and your family have done more for organ donation than anyone else I know.”
Yet the need remains urgent. More than 100,000 people in the United States are waiting for a transplant, and many will die before a suitable organ becomes available. Each decision to donate can mean the difference between mourning and hope, between a life cut short and a future restored.
Reg is now 97, but he continues to share Nicholas’s story. He writes and speaks with the belief that every conversation might inspire someone to become a donor, and that one decision could save a life.
Though Nicholas died at seven, his legacy continues through the people he helped save. His gift lives on in beating hearts, in years shared with families, and in sight restored to those who once feared darkness.
His story reminds us that even after the worst tragedy, love can still travel outward. It can cross borders, outlast decades, and keep giving.
> If you would like to reach Reg Green, you can contact him through his website, NicholasGreen.org.
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