REGION: Three Inland residents to ride Rose Parade float
Press Enterprise
For the 32 people who will ride the 10th annual “Donate Life†float in the 2013 Rose Parade, their emotional journeys will mirror the highs, lows and all points in between shared by the national community of organ and tissue recipients, transplant candidates, living donors, and families of deceased donors they represent.
Themed “Journeys of the Heart,†the 2013 Donate Life float will carry individuals age 12 to 68 from 17 states and Canada who were selected by local organizations as examples of courage, hope, generosity and advocacy for organ and tissue donation.
Inland-area riders include kidney recipient John Beers, 68, of Hemet; heart recipient Leilah Dowsari, 26, of Loma Linda; and kidney recipient Ernesto Bravo Chavez, 12, of Palm Springs.
Beers was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease at age 25. As an avid mountain climber and backpacker who still worked full time, failing kidneys and dialysis three times a week made life very difficult. That all changed in August 2005, when five years on the waiting list ended with a kidney transplant. Two years after his transplant, John joined his sons to climb Mt. Whitney, where he made it to 12,000 feet. Said the two-time Donate Life Ambassador of the Year for OneLegacy: “I received my second chance at a new life, thanks to the generosity of my donor family.â€
Read more
Read all of the float riders personal stories
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
For the 32 people who will ride the 10th annual “Donate Life†float in the 2013 Rose Parade, their emotional journeys will mirror the highs, lows and all points in between shared by the national community of organ and tissue recipients, transplant candidates, living donors, and families of deceased donors they represent.
Themed “Journeys of the Heart,†the 2013 Donate Life float will carry individuals age 12 to 68 from 17 states and Canada who were selected by local organizations as examples of courage, hope, generosity and advocacy for organ and tissue donation.
Inland-area riders include kidney recipient John Beers, 68, of Hemet; heart recipient Leilah Dowsari, 26, of Loma Linda; and kidney recipient Ernesto Bravo Chavez, 12, of Palm Springs.
Beers was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease at age 25. As an avid mountain climber and backpacker who still worked full time, failing kidneys and dialysis three times a week made life very difficult. That all changed in August 2005, when five years on the waiting list ended with a kidney transplant. Two years after his transplant, John joined his sons to climb Mt. Whitney, where he made it to 12,000 feet. Said the two-time Donate Life Ambassador of the Year for OneLegacy: “I received my second chance at a new life, thanks to the generosity of my donor family.â€
Read more
Read all of the float riders personal stories
{Register to be an organ,eye and tissue donor. To learn how, www.donatelife.net or www.organdonor.gov}
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