LANSING, Mich. — This week’s Good Neighbor story begins with a tragedy—but where it leads is extraordinary. It’s about a mother, a son, and a second chance no one could have predicted—just in time for Mother’s Day.
Haley Magwood is a proud mom—fierce, funny, and full of stories about her boys. And when she talks about her firstborn, Dalton, you can hear the love in every word.
Dalton was a quiet kid with a big heart. A black belt. A former Marine. A motorcycle rider. And above all else—a helper.
“He had tattoos on his hand that said, “free soul.” Haley told us.
And Dalton lived just like that—free, kind, and loyal.
He also loved the thrill of the open road. Riding gave him a sense of peace.
Three months after getting his dream chopper, Dalton was in a crash. Haley said it was the worst day of her life.
“They said that if he would have had his helmet on, he probably would have snapped his neck immediately. So, they did a cranial surgery, took half his skull on his left side off to let his brain swell and breathe. And then they did the MRI. The MRI came back. He had severed his brainstorm."
Doctors did everything they could. But after nine days on life support, there was no chance of recovery.
That’s when the conversation gently shifted—from trying to save Dalton, to helping him save others.
Dalton had already made that decision himself. He was a registered donor with Gift of Life Michigan.
He gave both kidneys, an eye, and what would become hundreds of skin, tissue, and bone grafts—gifts that continue to heal lives today.
A few years after Dalton’s accident, the story took an unexpected turn—this time, back to Haley.
She had injured her elbow years earlier, but the damage had worsened.
“I dislocated my elbow roller skating back in 2016. A girl ran into me, and I went backwards to hold myself up, and I put my hands back and dislocated my left elbow. I have cubital tunnel syndrome, so the nerve is being pinched, so my fingers and hands go numb.”
As Haley explained the upcoming surgery to her husband, he interrupted with a question she never saw coming.
“My husband says, “what does that mean?”
I said, “well, they need a graph, a tendon, bone or whatever.”
He says, “um, what about Dalton?”
I looked at him. I said, “what are you talking about?”
He said, “why couldn’t they use his?”
And I instantly lost it. Started crying, and I'm like, “I never thought of that.”
Dorrie Dils, President and CEO, Gift of Life Michigan says it's very rare to have a donor give to his family.
“It's rare to have a family that has both a donor story and a recipient story in the same family—let alone a mother and son, and her getting his tissue.”
Haley, it felt like fate.
Haley’s surgery is scheduled for June 25. She says she worked hard to get her health in line—so she can carry a piece of her son once more.
“I birthed him… and now I get to carry him again.”
“I just can't think of anything more giving," says Dils. "What's more loving than being a donor and saving someone else's life.”
As for Haley—she was never a registered donor before. But she is now.
Dalton gave in life. And now, in death, he continues to give—especially to the one who gave him life in the first place.
A perfect circle.
This week’s Good Neighbors are the donors and families who say yes to the gift of life.
To learn more about becoming an organ donor, visit www.giftoflifemichigan.org
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