The Nicholas Effect

The Nicholas Effect
A Boy's Gift To The World

It was perhaps the most famous organ donation in history. On the night of September 29, 1994, Nicholas Green, seven, became the innocent victim of a botched highway robbery in Calabria, Italy. Traveling with his family, Nicholas was shot while asleep in the back seat of his family's car. The bullet lodged in his brain, and two days later he was dead. What happened next made international news and is the subject of a new book, The Nicholas Effect: A Boy's Gift to the World (O'Reilly, April 23, 1999) by his father, Reg Green.

Nicholas' parents, Reg and Maggie Green, reversed the specter of tragedy by donating Nicholas' organs to transform seven other lives. At the time, Italy's organ and tissue donation rates were strikingly lower than those in most other European countries. The Greens' decision caused an explosion of coverage from the news media and jolted the public into action: requests for organ donation cards quadrupled overnight. More significantly, the trend continues. Last year, organ donations in Italy were twice as high as in 1993, the year preceding Nicholas' death. The Italians called this phenomenon, "The Nicholas Effect."

The Nicholas Green story captured the hearts and minds of the world, and is still fresh today -- it was recently made into a CBS movie called "Nicholas' Gift," starring Alan Bates and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Now, for the first time, Reg Green takes the reader beyond the headlines, into a private, emotionally candid recollection of the events as they unfolded. In chapter after chapter, Green shares his thoughts and emotions on each stage of the event, including poignant chapters on: the attack, Nicholas' death, reaching the decision to donate, the funeral, how Italians responded, how the world responded, and the trial of the alleged murderers.

Reg Green speaks openly about their son's death, and explains how he and his wife were able to put aside their own grief in order to help others. And while their decision to donate their son's organs and corneas had its own rewards, Green reveals his personal anguish over the loss of his son, and the steps he and his wife took to rebuild their lives.

Since Nicholas' death, the Greens' crusade for voluntary organ and tissue donations throughout the world has been unwavering. Few can read this book without being touched by the importance of making one's intentions to donate known and the dramatic effect this can have on saving lives. Practical solutions are offered, such as the family pledge -- a contract where family members can openly share their wishes about organ and tissue donation in the nontraumatic atmosphere of daily life.

The Greens have returned to Italy at least a dozen times since the shooting, becoming national figures there. Nicholas' memory has been honored by having parks and schools in Italy named after him, and even children. But for the Greens, the largest reward has been the number of people worldwide who have become aware of the acute organ shortage because of the publicity from their own tragic loss. In The Nicholas Effect, Green shares the thoughts and letters from people around the world.

As a direct result of the donation, seven Italians thrive today, grateful recipients of Nicholas' heart, corneas, liver, pancreas cells, and kidneys. Green describes the emotional meeting with these families, as well as other heartfelt stories of medical professionals who work in the transplant community.

The Nicholas Effect teaches the lessons of grace. The book lets the reader observe this couple's dignity and hard work, which helped turn a senseless tragedy into a life-affirming gesture.

About the Author - Reg Green is a former journalist who emigrated to the United States from England. Born in 1929, he earned degrees in economics and history at the Universities of Manchester and London. He quickly gravitated toward a career in journalism, starting at the (Manchester) Guardian. He moved to London where he specialized in business coverage for The (London) Times, and the Daily Telegraph. Green left journalism to head the public information department of the British nationalized gas industry, and later, the American Gas Association. In Washington, D.C., he worked for the Investment Company Institute, which he left in 1984. He moved to Northern California to start an investment public relations service. He and his wife, Maggie, live in Bodega Bay with their three children, Eleanor and twins, Martin and Laura.

'The Nicholas Effect: A Boy's Gift To The World'
Hardcover, 6' x 9' 272 pages, 16-page color insert ISBN: 1-56592-597-1 Publication Date: April 23, 1999

All the royalties earned by the Greens from sales of The Nicholas Effect: A Boy's Gift to the World will go to the Nicholas Green Foundation, dedicated to expanding our understanding of organ and tissue donation. The foundation also helps finance a scholarship fund for gifted children.