Frankfort Woman's Organ Donor Story Touches Viewers In New DocuSeries

FRANKFORT, IL — A new docuseries exploring the impact and humanity of organ, eye and tissue donation tells the story of Frankfort's Maddie Grobmeier, who died in 2019 at age 18, after suffering an acute asthma attack.

Before her death, Maddie had told her parents that if something happened to her, she wanted them to know she was an organ donor.

The three-episode series, GIFTED: The Docuseries, came out earlier this month on Vimeo On Demand.

"All three episodes will be available for rental or
purchase, offering viewers a meaningful way to learn and engage with the donation community as the nation
observes National Donate Life Month throughout April," according to a news release.

One of the three episodes share's Maddie's story.

"Echoing its central call to action, GIFTED asks viewers: 'If you could save the lives of 8 total strangers, could you—would you?'" a news release states.

The docuseries was created by filmmaker and executive producer Robert Horsey, who has dedicated his 27 year
nursing career to caring for donors and recipients and honoring donor heroes while educating the public about
this lifesaving cause.

“After years in development, I’m honored to share these amazing stories of triumph over tragedy with everyone,” Horsey said in a release. “Releasing GIFTED during National Donate Life Month allows us to amplify the message
of donation, uplift donor families, and inspire viewers to consider registering as organ, eye, and tissue donors.”

A few months after Maddie's death, as her family learned about organ and tissue donation, they created a nonprofit, The Maddog Strong Foundation.

Maddie's dad, Frank, told Patch that shortly after Maddie died, he read Robert's book, which is also called "Gifted."

"After reading it I immediately sent him an email telling him about Maddie and our family's recent experience with donation," Frank said. The two started corresponding, and eventually Robert asked if the Grobmeier family would be willing to share Maddie's story in the docuseries.

"We’re very protective of Maddie’s story but after seeing what a good man he was and his passion for making a difference for organ donation we couldn’t imagine trusting anyone more with Maddie’s story than him," Frank said. "And he did an incredible job of capturing Maddie, her personality and her heroism."

Maddie's decision to donate her organs saved three lives, according to a news release. She gave sight to a child in Michigan and an adult in Kuwait, and her tissues have gone as far away as Seoul.