Born prematurely and weighing just 1 lb. 14 oz., Chrystal Stuckey defied the odds from her very first breath.
“She was so tiny,” her mother, Lauretha “Penny” Corbitt, recalls. “She stayed in the hospital for three months, and the doctors only gave her a 10% chance of survival. But she fought through that.”
That determination carried Chrystal through childhood and into a full and happy life. In high school, Penny says her daughter had her hands in “a little bit of everything,” from cheerleading to ROTC. She was an A-student with dreams of becoming a pediatrician, but after one semester at the University of Alabama, her plans shifted—and, with her mother’s encouragement, Chrystal joined the U.S. Air Force.
Her military service took her across the globe, including a three-year stay in Italy, where she met her husband, Deverris Stuckey. In time, Chrystal became a mother of four, building a beautiful life rooted in love, service, and dedication. Inspired by her own mother’s work as a therapeutic foster parent, Chrystal pursued a degree in social work so she could advocate for and support vulnerable children. She was just months away from completing her master’s degree when she passed away on June 15, 2017—Penny’s birthday.
Prior to her passing, the health system had failed Chrystal and her family time and time again, misdiagnosing her headaches for years before she was finally diagnosed with hydrocephalus at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Penny had been by her side throughout her daughter’s health battle, helping care for Chrystal’s two youngest children while Deverris was stationed in Korea.
A few days after Penny had arrived to help, her daughter called her from the bedroom upstairs. “She said, ‘Mom, my whole right side is numb, and I can barely see,’” Penny recalls.
Penny brought Chrystal to the emergency room, bringing along her two oldest grandchildren after dropping the youngest two off at a family friend’s house. From there, they were made to wait for hours—despite asking for an airlift to Birmingham.
“We sat there forever,” recalls Penny. “They already had paperwork and knew what was going on with her. I got upset and I went back and said, ’look, if my daughter dies out here, you all are going to be responsible for it.’ About 15 min later, they came back and got her. They ran tests, gave her meds, and were going to send her home. I said, ‘you’re not going to airlift her to Birmingham? They said, ‘if we airlift her, it has to be an emergency.’ I said, ‘well, what do you call an emergency?!’”
Frustrated and terrified, the family had no choice but to make the drive to Birmingham themselves. They got as far as Georgiana, Alabama, when Chrystal woke up from a nap and said, “Mama, I’m dying.” Penny pulled over, called 911, and Chrystal was taken to the nearest hospital via ambulance.
In her final moments, Chrystal still thought of others. She removed her wedding rings and handed them to her mother to give to her husband, Deverris.
“She said, ‘Mama, I’m not going to make it,’” said Penny. “I pulled her up into my arms and I said, ‘don’t say that, yes you are.’”
Moments later, Chrystal gasped and passed away in her mother’s arms. The medical team performed CPR and put her on a life flight to Birmingham. By the time Penny and her grandchildren arrived, she had been declared brain dead. Once Deverris arrived home from Korea and made it to the hospital, her family made the generous decision to say “yes” to donation.
Chrystal’s heart and kidneys saved the lives of two men who were on the brink of death—one of them, heart recipient Sherman Transou, is now a passionate donation advocate and serves on the HonorBridge Board of Directors.
“I received a letter from Sherman,” said Penny. “I was very touched by the way that he talked about Chrystal and how she saved his life. He said that he was carrying a part of her around and that, through him, a part of her was still living. He said that he felt like we were family. It meant so much to me that a part of her still lives on, and that she gave someone who was on their deathbed another chance.”
Today, Penny is a registered organ donor herself, and she hopes that others will consider donation—either for themselves or for their family members.
“I wish that there were more donors, because you’re saving lives,” she said. “It’s not like you’re taking something from someone, they are giving it to you before their death. They’re allowing you to have a part of them. I am so grateful that Chrystal was an organ donor, because now two other families can still have their loved ones here on Earth. Chrystal made that happen.”
Through her final gift, Chrystal continues to shine, living on in the hearts she touched, the lives she saved, and the family who will forever carry her memory forward.
“She would just be smiling,” says Penny. “She laughed at everything—she loved to laugh. I can just see her laughing and rejoicing, knowing she saved lives.”
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