Kittle family, fellow Bobcats turn tragedy into opportunity to help others
Alumni from the Master of Sports Administration Class of 2009, including Matt Kittle (back row, second from right), gather for a group photo during this year’s OHIO Sports Administration Symposium, held May 9-11 on the Athens Campus. Photo by Quintin Lash
“She’s developed a pretty interesting legacy for a little girl who only lived 58 minutes.”
That’s how Matt Kittle, BBA ’04, MBA ’08, MSA ’09, and his wife, Elena, talk about their daughter, Evie, whose short life has touched the lives of many – all because her parents and her father’s Ƶ classmates decided to turn moments of sorrow into opportunities to give to others.
November 19, 2014, was supposed to be a joyous day for Matt and Elena. They were going to the doctor for an ultrasound that would show the gender of their first child.
The ultrasound determined that the Kittles were having a baby girl. Sadly, it also showed that their child had two birth defects: a diaphragmatic hernia, an abnormal opening in the diaphragm that allows abdominal organs to move into the chest cavity, and a hypoplastic left heart, in which the left side of the heart develops at a slower pace than the right side.
Both conditions are relatively common abnormalities and, on their own, treatable. When you put them together, the survival rate drops significantly.
“It was such a range of emotion,” Matt said of that day. “You hear that you’re having a girl, and you’re super excited and thinking of everything to come; then immediately you hear the devastating news that she has less than a 1 percent chance to even make it to delivery, let alone live beyond that.”
In that moment, Matt and Elena knew what they were facing. The doctors gave them an honest assessment, and Elena is a cardiovascular ICU nurse. Before even driving away from the hospital, the couple sat in their car and considered their options.
Though Evie Kittle’s family only had her for 58 minutes, her parents cherished the time and vowed to establish her legacy. Photo courtesy of Matt Kittle, BBA ’04, MBA ’08, MSA ’09
“We closed the doors and immediately looked at each other and thought that if something good can’t come out of this, something good should happen for someone else,” Matt said. “And we thought we needed to look into organ donation. It was that quick.”
The Kittles continued to consult with doctors, but even as she continued to develop, their daughter’s chance of survival was becoming grimmer.
While at the Cleveland Clinic, the Kittles were introduced to Lifebanc, a nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization serving Northeast Ohio. With guidance from their doctors and support from Lifebanc, the Kittles decided to carry her infant to term and, when the time came, to donate her organs.
Despite being faced with devastating loss, Matt said they were lucky.
“Unlike a lot of other families who have a child who doesn’t live beyond birth, we knew,” he said. “So we were able to plan.”
Evelyn “Evie” Grace Kittle was born at 6:48 a.m. on April 4, 2015, and her parents’ plan for her brief life began. Evie was baptized. She spent time with family. And her gentle spirit was captured in beautiful photographs.
“I wanted to make sure I could take her outside because I thought that it would be kind of ridiculous for someone to be born and not breathe fresh air outside and see the sun,” Matt said.
The Kittle family was able to do everything with Evie that they had planned, giving her what Matt described as “a lifetime in an hour.”
Evie passed away at 7:46 a.m., and the Kittles once again made the choice to put their grief aside to help others, immediately turning their daughter over to doctors for organ donation.
Evie donated five organs that day, giving life to others and a new purpose to her parents.
“The longtail result, locally, is that, prior to us, neonatal donations were not a topic that was easily discussed, and, frankly, it just wasn’t very common,” Matt said. “We were super excited that one of the outcomes (of Evie’s donation) was that we started having dialogue with doctors and nurses about how to approach families in similar situations and help them understand how impactful organ donation is. It’s a very traumatic situation, but it can be very positive. It can help build a legacy for your child.”
The Kittles are now advocates for organ donation, and Matt serves on the Lifebanc Board of Directors. They were even invited to the 2016 Rose Bowl where Evie’s name was among those on the Donate Life’s Rose Parade float honoring organ and tissue donors.
“She’s been the catalyst to help generate a significant amount of money for organ donation and a few other causes,” Matt said of his daughter.
More than four years afte