Her aunt’s devastating loss gave Emily Ness a keener appreciation for life and a greater willingness to do for others.

Tammi Shanks, a caring, loving woman with a perpetual smile, had that profound effect on her niece.

“We were very close. She was like my second mom,” Ness said of Shanks, who died a year ago at a Seattle hospital while she was on the waiting list for a double-lung transplant. “She was always there to talk to and would always say that everything was going to be OK, no matter what. She always put her family first, and she made everyone who knew her feel special.”

Shanks became ill at age 39 with what she at first thought was pneumonia. Ultimately diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, the operating room nurse knew there was no cure. Needing a lung transplant, she never got one. She died Nov. 30, 2008.

The circumstances of her aunt’s death inspired Ness to do more by bringing awareness to the importance of organ donation. It is what her aunt would have wanted, she says.

“After she died, I realized that I can continue her legacy with helping people know the facts about organ donation,” said Ness, a sophomore at Auburn Mountainview High School. “People need to be educated about this matter so that they too can give the gift of life.

“My Aunt Tammi donated her corneas so now someone is seeing life for the first time because of her,” Ness continued. “It has really helped my family in knowing that even though she is gone, every day she is still helping people as she did when she was alive.”

To honor Shanks, Ness and her friends led a school-wide assembly Wednesday morning. In front of family and friends, students and faculty, an emotional Ness told her aunt’s compelling story on the one-year anniversary of her death. The assembly – which Ness, Maggie Henderson and Monica Trainor organized as a DECA public relations project – carried a theme in concert with the Donate Life Today’s seasonal “Give Thanks, Give Life” campaign.

Along with Ness’ message, Auburn Mountainview Principal Terri Herren shared how her late nephew was a donor. And Auburn’s Miss Washington, Devanni Partridge, presented her organ donation platform and the story of her lifelong friend. Misty, who is now living a healthy life after a lung transplant.

In addition, those responsible for saving a heart attack victim at the school’s track this fall were honored. The survivor thanked the quick-responding team.

Shanks is remembered as a beloved mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend.

After being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, Shanks led a fairly normal life for six years. But as the disease advanced, it decreased her lung function and reduced her lungs to scar tissue.

Placed on the transplant list, she deteriorated quickly. After seven months, Shanks was placed at the top of the list, but it was too late. One day, she had trouble breathing and was taken in an ambulance to the hospital. One week later, she was gone.

Shanks left behind a husband, a daughter, a son, four siblings, nieces, nephews and her parents.

Her mother, Pat, mourns her every day and misses the way she kept the family together.

“Tammi made up any excuse for a get-together with the family,” said Pat, who was on hand at the assembly, joined by Shanks’ sister, Tauni.

Shanks’ situation is one of many playing out across the country. Some of the stories end happily, others do not.

As Ness recalled, a man received a double-lung transplant the day after her aunt’s death.

There are more than 100,000 people on the national transplant waiting list, according to Donate Life Today, and 18 people die each day waiting for transplants. Locally, more than 1,600 people are waiting for a transplant.

“We are constantly amazed by how many people are touched by donation,” said Megan Erwin, executive director at Donate Life Today. “Each day, I meet more and more people with their own story to tell, which just continues to demonstrate to me why we need to educate more people about the great need for organ, eye and tissue donation.”

From her personal experience, Ness has become a community advocate for organ donation. She also would like to pursue medical school, perhaps study psychology, to help families cope with the life-and-death process like the one that gripped her family.

In death, Ness sees life, and more opportunities to help others – all in the spirit of her aunt.

On Dec. 1, students will plant tulips on school grounds in memory of those who died while on the waiting list for a donation.

The tulip is symbolic. It blooms each April, the National Donate Life month.

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Note: Donate Life Today encourages everyone to register organ, eye and tissues donations at www.DonateLifeToday.com. LifeCenter Northwest – one of the 58 federally-designated non-profit organ procurement organizations in the United States – manages the registry. The Auburn Public Library, 1102 Auburn Way S., is holding a registration drive 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.