CHICO — The 21-year-old Livermore student who died after being struck by an alleged drunken driver on Sept. 22 was remembered as a caretaker — and her spirit continues to give.
Granada High School graduate Kristina Chesterman was a senior nursing student at Chico State University. She was declared brain-dead Sept. 24 from injuries caused when she was struck while riding in a campus-area bike lane.
Chesterman had signed up as an organ donor as soon as she became eligible at age 18, according to her mother, Sandra. Through Kristina’s donations, three lives have been saved since her death last week.
A man who was on dialysis for three hour every day received Kristina’s kidney, her mother said. The recipient has returned home to his 6-month-old baby and wife.
An 8-month-old infant received a portion of Kristina’s liver. The baby initially was to receive part of its mother’s liver, but wasn’t able to due to a blood problem the mother was having.
“His days were numbered, and then Kristina came along and the baby is doing wonderfully,” Sandra Chesterman said.
An infant who had liver cancer received another part of Kristina’s liver.
Family members of the recipients are expected to represent them at services Thursday in Livermore, her mother said. Some of Kristina’s professors, representatives of the Chico State nursing program, Chico police officers and many other people who were touched by her life will attend the “celebration of life.”
The services have been set for 10:30 a.m. at the Cornerstone Fellowship Church in Livermore, 348 N. Canyons Parkway.
A private burial was held in her hometown Wednesday.
Donations to Doctors Without Borders and the Kristina Chesterman Nursing Scholarship can be made at the foundation’s website at http://kristinachesterman.org.
In memory of her daughter, Sandra Chesterman plans to continue to advocate against drunken driving and for bicycle safety, she said.
She will work with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and plans on taking the bicycle Kristina was riding when she was struck and displaying it at high schools and colleges.
“We will be telling Kristina’s story,” her mother said. “We will not let her death be in vain.”
