Transplant Groupies gather in Plainfield

Hendricks County Flyer, Indiana | Brenda Holmes
Photo: Liver transplant recipients Lynn Livingston (standing, left) and Frank Codozor visit during the Transplant Groupie Picnic held this weekend at Hummel Park in Plainfield.

Transplant recipients from all over the state, and a few from even further away, traveled to Plainfield over the weekend to participate in the first Transplant Groupie Picnic.

The event was held at Hummel Park and was planned by three women who live quite a distance apart â€" Lynn Livingston of Plainfield, Debie Switalski of South Bend, and Cherie Orvis of Anderson.

“I had my transplant in November of ‘08 and I think we started the support group in 2010,” Switalski said. “It kind of started on Facebook. We got to know each other that way.

“Lynn (Livingston) had created a page for just transplant recipients on Facebook. Lynn and I have really become good friends. I had cancer last year and she was with me through all of that.”

Both Switalski and Livingston have received life-saving liver transplants.

She said it was nice to see so many other transplant recipients. Switalski said many of the people who attended the event had been in communication online but had not met face to face.

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