2006年NPR美国国家公共电台八月-A Girl's Gift of Life, Recalled by Her Do

On Fridays we bring you interviews between family and friends at StoryCorp. The Traveling Oral History Project lets participants guide their own conversations. Few need notes or outlines. Today, a father tells his daughter a story that has stayed with him for ten years.

John Bancroft has been a pediatrician for 24 years. In that time, he's treated thousands of children. One stands out. And he recently talked about her with his daughter Carolyn.

A little girl had come to the hospital with, ah, the sudden onset¹ of liver failure. She was sitting on her mother's lap at a high school football game when her mother noticed that her eyes were yellow and she was acting² a little tired. By the time we brought her into the hospital, it's pretty clear that her liver was failing and was not likely to recover and we began very quickly the process of listing her for possible transplant³. Seven, eight, nine days went by and there wasn't a donor⁴ available. On the tenth day when we thought we had a lead on the donor, she had a sudden worsening. And even as we were trying to make the decision whether we could go ahead with the transplant, her brain function changed to the point where it's clear we couldn't. There was little chance that she was going to recover. So after working with that family every day for ten days, just taking each, really each hour as it came, I'd to talk with them about the fact that we couldn't go ahead. And as we gathered around her bed, her parents spontaneously⁵ turned to us and said, was there any chance that her organs could help another? And as it turned out, they could. And they wound up donating, her kidneys⁶, her pancreas, her corneas. And later, I saw a photo of all the recipients⁷. And it was one of the most moving photos I've ever seen. Here was a family that was desperately⁸ waiting for a transplant. And they wound up turning around and giving at a time when no one would have expected it, and wound up touching⁹ a number of individuals and really giving them a new chance at life. That's one of my more memorable¹⁰ days and I don't think I had much to do with it.

I always wonder how you moved through all of these patients and these success stories and then the losses. Somehow, there seems to be a hope.

Yeah, I think there is. Children have such a resilience and bounce back and heal in ways that always amaze me. And it certainly does hurt when children don't heal or when they die. I hope those never stop hurting but to have one of them turn around and give you a hug around the leg or just smile can really change a day.

John Bancroft with his daughter Carolyn, at StoryCorp in New York city. StoryCorp interviews are archived at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. Previous conversations are also archived at npr.org.

Major funding for StoryCorp comes from the corporation for public broadcasting.

【WORLD BANK】
wind up
[linking verb] informal to be in an unpleasant situation or place after a lot has happened
synonym end up
pancreas
[解]胰腺
cornea
[医]角膜
bounce back
1
to feel better quickly after being ill, or to become successful again after failing or having been defeated
synonym recoverThe company's had a lot of problems in the past, but it's always managed to bounce back.
2
if an email that you send bounces back or is bounced back, it is returned to you and the other person does not receive it because of a technical problem

1 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 transplant   

n.移植的器官或植物；v.使迁移，使移居

参考例句：

• Some plants do not transplant well.有些植物不宜移植。
• Several of the patients had received kidney transplant.病人中有几位已接受了肾移植手术。

4 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

5 spontaneously   

ad.自发地

参考例句：

• We decided spontaneously to board a train for Geneva. 我们自行决定搭乘去日内瓦的火车。
• Opportunities for learning occur spontaneously every day. 学习的机会每天都会自然而然地出现。

6 kidneys   

肾形矿脉； 肾，肾脏( kidney的名词复数 )； （可食用的动物的）腰子

参考例句：

• The function of the kidneys is to excrete wastes from the body. 肾的功能是排泄人体里的废物。
• She got a very dangerous disease of kidneys. 她得了一种很危险的肾病。

7 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

9 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

10 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。