A Lubbock man discovered two cardboard boxes marked as containing donated human tissue in the road.

Everything Lubbock reports that Jon Mckinnerney saw a truck traveling near 64th Street and Frankford Avenue and noticed two boxes fall out of its bed. When Mckinnerney went to retrieve the boxes, he saw that they were labeled "Human Tissue."

He called LifeGift and returned the two boxes to the man who was driving the truck. Mckinnerney said the man was grateful, but "very upset" because a third box filled with blood was also missing. The man, who hasn't been named, reportedly told Mckinnerney that without that box, the organs "would not be usable."

LifeGift, which had hired the courier to deliver the boxes, issued a statement about the incident, clarifying that the boxes contained human tissue, not organs:

LifeGift appreciates the action of the good Samaritan that took responsibility and contacted us about this incident. We would like to clarify that the courier was transporting tissue samples and not organs. Upon learning of the situation, LifeGift immediately took every action possible to locate the packages. As result of our rapid response, the donated gifts will be used to save the lives of others.

As a matter of standard practice, LifeGift contracts with commercial bio-specimen couriers.  This courier failed to meet expectations and we will no longer be contracting with them.
This is an unfortunate and extraordinarily rare situation.

It is important to note that the confidentiality of the donor was maintained throughout the incident and subsequent investigation.

LifeGift works tirelessly day in and day out to offer hope to others through lifesaving organ and tissue donation.

Mckinnerney was critical of the fact that boxes full of donated human tissue and blood could so easily be lost or damaged during transport.

"This is life saving stuff that needs to be handled better," Mckinnerney said (quote via Everything Lubbock). "I surely hope that my mother's organ is not handled in this care. Whether it be in the back of a pick up truck - who knows if it's damaged and who knows if the cooler got damaged it was in. It's just a bad situation."

According to its website, LifeGift "offers hope to the thousands of people in Texas and beyond who need lifesaving organ transplants, and to countless others who need lifesaving tissue transplants."

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