Man's final gift saved others' lives
Organ recipient: Bissell 'is still alive through us'
By Ron Menchaca
Pelham Medlock Jr. stood solemnly near the City Market. He bowed his head and quietly prayed as carriage horses clopped past and tourists bustled through the heart of Charleston's visitor hub.
He stared at the pavement near the corner of North Market and Anson streets earlier this month, whispering prayerful thanks to a man he never knew.
Police still do not know the identity of the man Shawn Bissell struggled with before he died two years ago.
Shawn Bissell's life ended at this spot two years ago in what police consider a freak accident. It left him unconscious and brain-dead but preserved his healthy organs.
Although questions still linger in Bissell's death — his fatal fall came, in part, at the hands of an unidentified man police couldn't locate — his family's decision to donate his organs gave Medlock and others new lives.
Medlock was dying from a non-alcohol-related form of cirrhosis when the phone in his Upstate home rang Jan. 28, 2007. It was his wife's birthday, and she was opening presents. But the news on the other end of the line announced a gift for him: a new liver.
"I tell myself that this was God's will," said Medlock, a former arson investigator in Anderson County. "Shawn had done what God sent him here to do, and for whatever reason, my time is not yet done."
Medlock, who has struck up an e-mail connection with Bissell's sister, Rita Batten, still travels to Charleston regularly for check-ups. After his appointments at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he received the transplant, he heads for the City Market, to pray. "I often wonder what people around me think. I guess I don't care. It's the part of the trip I look forward to," he said.
Saving others
Barbara Melvin's kidney was failing from a disorder, and the Fayetteville, N.C., woman's wait for a donor was estimated at five years. She was steeling herself to begin grueling dialysis treatments when the call came out of the blue. It was Jerry and Rita Batten calling, a couple she'd known for years through her work as director of the North Carolina Indian Housing Authority.
To offer tips
If you have any information concerning the Jan. 27, 2007, scuffle in the Charleston City Market that led to the death of Shawn Bissell, call Charleston police at 577-7434 or Crime Stoppers at 554-1111.
Batten's younger brother, Bissell, had died in a fall in Charleston. The Battens knew Melvin was very sick. They wanted her to have one of Shawn's kidneys.
Melvin thinks that accepting the gift came with a sacred duty to share her life with Bissell's family. "I feel close to him even though I never knew him. He is still alive through us," she said.
An unidentified man in his 50s received Bissell's heart. Another person received his other kidney.
Seeing the joy that Shawn Bissell's final gift brought to others helps Batten deal with the loss. She helped raise him, coddled him to sleep when he was colicky.
"It helped me tremendously with the pain of losing him. Now I have people I can talk to who are so exceedingly grateful," she said.
But she still struggles to understand Bissell's death.
Lingering questions
It was just after 2 a.m. Jan. 27, 2007. The downtown bars had just closed and people poured onto the sidewalks.
Bissell and a friend were leaving a bar near the City Market when they heard a man and woman arguing nearby. Bissell tried to intervene on the woman's behalf. The other man told Bissell to mind his own business. Both men raised their fists and clashed near the sidewalk. Bissell stumbled backward in the scuffle. His head struck the pavement. He lay motionless as onlookers gathered.
The Charleston police officer who took the call left the scene 21 minutes later. He took only one witness statement, never located the mystery man in the scuffle and turned away other witnesses who offered their own accounts.
In February 2007, after The Post and Courier inquired about the department's handling of the case and located new witnesses, investigators renewed efforts to find the mystery man and any witnesses they might have overlooked. But those efforts did not turn up any new details, and the Solicitor's Office later decided no crime had been committed.
Police said this week that they still don't know the identity of the man Bissell struggled with or the woman Bissell tried to protect. Bissell's case is closed pending any new information or witnesses, police public information officer Charles Francis said.
Bissell's childhood friend, David Alexander, always figured someone would come forward. Maybe his friend's death still would be ruled an accident, but knowing more details might bring Bissell's family closure.
"I thought that the girl would come forward. Shawn was trying to defend her. He basically died for her. How do you go through life knowing somebody gave their life for you?" Alexander said.
Medlock and Melvin know exactly what that's like.
Reach Ron Menchaca at rmenchaca@postandcourier.com or 937-5724.
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SomeTruthPlease (anonymous) says...
I pray that the woman involved hadn't "imbibed" so greatly that she has no recollection of the event. If she is a human being, and she is reading this article, she will come forward. If she knows the outcome of that night, and does not come forward, I can only assume what her future holds. That isn't the sort of person I would be acquainted with.
January 26, 2009 at 12:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
islandbenzbc (anonymous) says...
Sometimes good things come out of bad...
January 26, 2009 at 6:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
moonpie (anonymous) says...
Amen to that islandbenzbc. Seems like the identy of the woman would have been easy to get?
January 26, 2009 at 6:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
n4dhs (anonymous) says...
the cops would rather be comfy and warm stopping people at lockwood or on bikes at market harassing people.....one MORE reason to heartily dislike the police here......
January 26, 2009 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tracy1750 (anonymous) says...
If Shawn's family reads this, I knew him. I am very proud of what he was trying to do when this horrible thing happened to him. That is the kind of man he was. I hope knowing he was helping someone then and after with his organs helps his family with their grief.
January 26, 2009 at 9:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
periopro (anonymous) says...
What a tragic loss of life. Thankfully his family has honored his memory in sharing life with others. They are truly generous loving people.
Shame on the PD for such a pathetic job! Shame on the woman he defended for not going to the PD with her story and the name of the perp. I hope it weighs heavy on her conscience.
January 26, 2009 at 9:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
IronWoman (anonymous) says...
Sounds like Shawn was a wonderful and very special guy. To step up to the place like that for a total stranger is very admirable. We can rest assured knowing God had a special place in heaven for him... and that his family will see him again one day.
January 26, 2009 at 9:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weeeee (anonymous) says...
Ehhhh...I don't know about the whole "God" or "heaven" thing...
I can only wish that when I die, one of my last acts will be one of selflessness like Shawn's.
Charleston PD = no better than the scum who killed this guy
January 26, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhalfen (anonymous) says...
Truly sad human tale with ironically-blessed outcomes -- I smile and shake my head at the same time.
And, even though I live in Baltimore, I can honestly say that the police's handling of this case is, apparently, an utter travesty.
January 26, 2009 at 10:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
palmettotree (anonymous) says...
The Charleston police officer who took the call left the scene 21 minutes later. He took only one witness statement, never located the mystery man in the scuffle and turned away other witnesses who offered their own accounts.
It seems the whole department works the same way. While leaving work around 11:30 at night I was heading down East Bay St headed towards Broad and I had to slam on my breaks before I hit someone (he was headed for state st. through a parking lot) who NEVER STOPPED TO LOOK FOR TRAFFIC and WAS RUNNING FASTER THAN HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN and also HAD SOME THING LIKE A BLACK BAG in his hands. Shortly there after I heard a womens cry turned around and found out that she was just robbed of her purse. I stayed along with another fellow to tell the police what we had seen. They at first were going after the fact that I may have seen the robber. Then they got a message on the radio that they found a dry hoodie on a park bench and then just about told me that it couldn't have been the robber. Yeah right...how stupid can they be. This person ran from the same street that the robbery occurred. The person who was robbed was knocked down and turn around and said she didn't know which way the robber went but thought it was to the park.
The next time I will not stay and help them out. They can kiss my behind. Even though another witness said he didn't see anybody go down that way.
The CPD are so lame. Why believe someone who is hysterical (which she was) versus two people who weren't.
I should have hit that sucker that ran like he was being chased by cops, which is what I told the police. Next time I won't miss... I will wing him.
January 26, 2009 at 10:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mypointofview (anonymous) says...
Posted by Weeeee on January 26, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Ehhhh...I don't know about the whole "God" or "heaven" thing..."
Weeeee, wait until you are one day facing death. I'll bet you will quickly learn to know about "the whole 'God' or 'heaven' thing" then. As the old saying goes, "there are no atheists in foxholes."
January 26, 2009 at 11:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Shaynan (anonymous) says...
Shawn's family was very brave and giving -- several lives were saved and families were enriched through the blessing of organ donations. My sister received a kidney because a mother thought of others while still grieving for her child. I encourage others to plan ahead and make the decision now to donate organs by contacting the MUSC Transplant Center and officially registering as a donor. The "heart" on your driver's license helps, but making your family and the Transplant Center aware of your specific wishes is even better.
January 26, 2009 at 12:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
katrenavantassle (anonymous) says...
In the statement above, the mans sister admits that she gave one of his kidneys to a woman that SHE KNEW. I didn't know that could be done. I thought that once you give your organs, there is A LIST OF DONORS who are WAITING for an organ...it the HOSPITAL HAS TO GO BY THE LIST.
But she says she called the friend and told her that she wanted her to have one of her brothers organs.
This ORGAN DONOR issue is one I don't understand. It seems to me that IF you can PICK who you want the organ to go to...then its only a matter of time before you can start
selling them to HIGHEST BIDDER ON EBAY!!
January 26, 2009 at 12:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weeeee (anonymous) says...
Right, mypointofview. So where was your "God" when I was carjacked at gun point? Nowhere. For your sake and all of your blind 'followers', I sure hope you're right.
Regardless of any of that, how about you contribute to the article? Your post is about as useful as the morons who try to turn every post into something political.
January 26, 2009 at 1:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Snapper (anonymous) says...
That is truly terrible. I am thinking that the reason why the girl does not come forward is because she doesn't want to be brought up on any charges. I view this as murder. Plain and simple. Whether he meant to kill Shawn or not, he did. The couple was probably a boyfriend/girlfriend deal who were both drinking heavily, got into an argument as to who was drunker than who to drive home and Shawn just tried to make right what he thought was wrong.
January 26, 2009 at 1:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cubfan (anonymous) says...
Direct donation is NOTHING like selling an organ. If you are choosing to donate a loved one's organ, and you KNOW someone who needs that organ, why in the world wouldn't you be able to give it to them?? It's an act of love, no matter who the organ goes to.
January 26, 2009 at 3:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
davidalexander (anonymous) says...
Shawn was a good guy trying to do a good thing. This was a big guy yelling horrible things to a small girl. He would have hated himself if he had done nothing. When I called the police to ask how I could help in trying to get this person identified, an officer told me not to "stir up any trouble". I couldn't believe what I was hearing from this officer; here I was, trying to see if they wanted me to pass out flyers or something, and he tells me not to stir up trouble.
Shawn was one of my best friends for 20+ years. For him to die without any answers is a crime within itself. The police should have taken their time and done a thorough investigation instead of spending 21 minutes interviewing 1 person. A witness to the fight, that was not interviewed, went up to the police that night and pointed out the person that was in the fight with Shawn, but he was never questioned. The police were in a hurry.
If you have any questions about Shawn or have any leads on who this could be, please email me at ddaveshome@aol.com.
We appreciate any information you can give us.
January 26, 2009 at 4:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LowcountryLady (anonymous) says...
davodalexander, I'm so sorry for your lose but it sounds like Shawn was a great person and friend. I hate to say that I am surprised to hear about this lack of investigation but I'm not. Don't give up your quest for answers and the truth will be uncovered!
January 26, 2009 at 4:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
davidalexander (anonymous) says...
We won't, thanks for your words of encouragement! We hope something will come out of this article and thank Ron Menchaca for writing this on the second anniversary of his death.
January 26, 2009 at 5:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Tulane75 (anonymous) says...
WEEEEE said, "Charleston PD = no better than the scum who killed this guy."
This is an outrageous and ignorant remark. It merits no further response!
January 26, 2009 at 10:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Weeeee (anonymous) says...
Tulane, your post serves no purpose but to troll a response. But that's what other posters on PnC have learned to expect from you. Funny is your response considering other posters have given reasons to substantiate my comment about Charleston PD. People like you should be denied access to a PC/internet.
January 27, 2009 at 8:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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