Donation_For_Others

The Hartford Courant | Dom Amore UConn baseball coach Jim Penders, left, visits Mike Galati in the hospital. (Special to The Courant, Courtesy of Mike Galati / June 21, 2013) Mike Galati got home from his job at Johnson & Johnson on Monday, settled in to eat dinner and watched TV. Another day seemed to have passed without the news he needed, the search for the liver donor he needed continued. Then his phone rang and an incredible 36-hour chain of events began. It was John Gaine, the brother of former UConn women's basketball player Courtney Gaine. A long-time family friend had died suddenly of an aneurysm, the man was an organ donor and his son wanted Galati to receive his father's liver. "We all kind of thought, 'this is a bittersweet story, and incredible act of kindness," Courtney Gaine said. "But it's probably not going to work out." Though the deceased man, Judge J. Michael Conroy, was 67, his liver was exceptionally healthy and appeared to ...

News 7 Melbourne | Karen O'Sullivan FIRST ON 7: Surgeons who pioneered liver transplants 25 years ago are now setting their sights on performing Australia's first stomach transplant. Professor Bob Jones, who has performed hundreds of operations, says he still believes they are a miracle. Renee Cowton was a scared ten-year-old when she became the first child liver transplant recipient in Australia. "I knew it was huge and I knew that death could happen if it didn't work," she said. Surgeon, Professor Jones from the Austin Hospital admits 25 years ago the risks were high. "We sought of thought we knew what we were doing, and we were very lucky we got away with it," Jones said. "We do it a lot better now." The operation has since been refined and thousands of lives have been saved. Three years ago Professor Jones performed the first intestinal transplant, now he is preparing for what will be the country's first stomach transplant Twenty-three-...

Donate Life North Carolina | Katie Paulson It's a common question at most social functions, and one that I feel so honored and blessed to answer. Most people are quite taken aback when I share that I work for Donate Life North Carolina. Organ and tissue donation? Unless one has made a recent trip to the DMV or has a personal connection, it's not something we tend to think about on a daily basis. I felt the same way until August 2009. After teaching in special education at the high school level via Teach For America, I was looking for a change. I had the opportunity to apply for the Life Anew Coordinator position with Carolina Donor Services, and fell into a wonderful two years in the world of aftercare. In that role, I had the privilege of hearing hundreds of stories from parents, sisters, brothers, children, grandparents, cousins, and friends whose loved ones gave the gift of life through organ, tissue and eye donation. Additionally, I had the honor of facilitating corresponde...

The Reporter, Vacaville, CA | BY MARIE F. ESTRADA/TIMES-HERALD, VALLEJO For the first time in four years, 17-year-old Vallejo resident Justin Fowler can breathe clearly. On Feb.16 Fowler received a double lung transplant at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, and for the first time in years, he said he can finally make plans for both the weekend and his future. His transplants came in the nick of time. In the days leading up to his surgery, Justin's body was at a serious juncture. His lungs were shutting down, but he resisted a procedure that, while helping him, would have kicked him off the transplant list. His grandmother said he fought for the new lungs, and months later Justin said he's feeling better every day. A huge fan of the Giants, and new fan of the Vallejo Admirals, Fowler has plans to join the baseball team at Vallejo High School this fall as a junior -- regardless of whether he has to sit on the bench sometimes. "I might have to work on my h...

Hour Detroit Magazine | By Monica Mercer // Photographs by Josh Scott Myths about organ donation and transplantation are still contaminating the real issues behind a silent health problem Dr. Alan Koffron can conjure scene after scene from the medical TV genre where human kidneys have been integral to the plot: residents dropping them on the floor, crooked doctors profiting from organ trafficking, the wrong kidney placed in the wrong body. Kidney transplantation â€" the most commonly performed of all transplant procedures in the world â€" ranks high on the medical dramatics scale, Koffran says, but he’s not sure why. An organ transplantation surgeon with Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Koffron has performed thousands of kidney transplants. He and the other medical professionals involved in the process across the country know how heavily regulated it is in the United States, with checks and balances so strong that rarely does a kidney transplant involve any- thing remotely a...

Donate Life Rose Float 2014 DONATE LIFE FLOAT RIDERS UNVEILED! We are pleased to announce the 30 Riders â€" all recipients of donated organs, eyes and tissue â€" who will "Light Up the World" with their dramatic and heartrending stories as riders aboard the 11th annual Donate Life float in the 2014 Rose Parade. Julie M. Allred Concord, NC Melissa Bensouda Lee's Summit, MO Edward A. Bonfiglio Runnemede, NJ Kim Burdakin Muscatine, IA Faith Carlin Philadelphia, PA John Cervantes Chino, CA Yang-Chuan Chang Hualien City, Taiwan (R.O.C.) Dan Cuda Lincoln, NE Nita French Norman, OK Brian Keith Gilliam Huffman, TX Craig Hostert Fullerton, CA David Jenkins Grand Junction, CO Matt Katsarelis Katy, TX Katharine Lawrence Asbury, NJ Nefeterius Akeli McPherson Killeen, TX Debbie Morgan Riverside, CA Richard Perez Rochester, NY Sue Herrick Pilon Wyandotte, MI Sherri Plair Columbia, SC Harry Rambo Alachua, FL Linda Ramos Schererville, IN Connor Randall Arvada, CO Arthur Joven ...

Donate Life California Senator Tom Berryhill is a fourth-generation California farmer who has been active in many community groups and business organizations throughout California’s San Joaquin Valley. However, his work as a farmer and future as an elected public servant would have ended without a heart transplant. His children would have been left without a father and his wife without her husband. Today, in good health, he is a member of the California State Senate working tirelessly on behalf of his constituents and enjoying time with his family. He is the only elected official in the United States who is a heart transplant recipient. However, in the late 1990s, as a relatively young man, his chronic heart problem went from bad to worse, eventually leaving him in need of a new heart. In May 2001 he underwent a transplant at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco. “Now I have all the energy in the world to do the things I love. I fish, ski, exercise regularly a...

Observer & Eccentric Newspaper | Brad Kadrich Photo: Joe Kelly, with wife Dottie, hopes to be able to do more than just sit in his garden after recovering from a liver transplant. Joe Kelly was never a University of Michigan fan. But Kelly, sporting a blue U-M polo shirt and slowly recovering from a liver transplant, is happy to shout “Go Blue!” now. Kelly, a longtime Canton resident and retired Unisys employee, said he owes his life to, among others, the doctors and staff at the University of Michigan Hospital after surviving the surgery that replaced his non-functioning liver. “It’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to go through,” Kelly said. “U-M has one hell of a medical staff. You can take what they tell you to the bank. I have a whole new appreciation for organ donor programs.” While Kelly’s surgery is recent, his battle with liver disease is not. He was diagnosed with hepatitis back in the early 1970s, about a year after he’d gotten out of the U.S. ...

WVU FOX 8, New Orleans | Nancy Parker Photo: Kaylon Marshall (center) with teammates in Shreveport New Orleans, La. -At 5-feet-10, 285 pounds, Kaylon Marshall dominated the football field. But life threw the teen a pass he never imagined. His heart was in the game of football, but that same heart failed him. During the 2011 season, his hits brought more respect to Shreveport's Calvary Baptist Cavaliers. "They called him 'the Beast.' He was the target of all the opposing teams," said his mother Pamela Marshall. But even "the Beast" was not invincible. "I think I remember the last game. I didn't feel good at all and I don't even think my mama wanted me to play because I couldn't breathe at all," Kaylon said. He said it took him a while to get up when he made a tackle because he was so winded. A doctor confirmed a diagnosis that no amount of training could prepare Kaylon for. "He said I had cardiomyopathy and they had to give me f...

Sheffield Telegraph Photo: Transplant Survivor Craig & Son Samuel Blackburn A young man has recruited hundreds of organ donors to the register after he - and his father - were given a second chance at life thanks to transplantation. Samuel Blackburn, aged 28, suffered chronic renal failure from birth and had his right kidney removed as a youngster. When he was placed on the transplant list, his father Craig offered to donate an organ â€" but, in a bizarre twist, it was while undergoing tests for the procedure that doctors discovered Craig had kidney cancer. Craig had his affected kidney removed just months before Samuel was given his new organ in 2007 - and he has now had the all-clear. IT account manager Samuel, of Spooner Drive, Killamarsh, said: “Before the operation I didn’t realise how ill I was - my friends used to call me Bart Simpson because I was that yellow. “The difference the transplant has made is unbelievable, I can do stuff normally again. My dad was very ...

Parent Dish UK | Keith Kendrick A young mother died six hours after her baby was born after 23 doctors mistakenly mistook a brain stem tumour for an ear infection. While she was pregnant, Rosie Kremer, 24, suffered two months of agony and lost two stone. She was violently sick, slurred her speech and started to lose coordination of her limbs. But despite her pleas for help, doctors insisted her pain was being caused by an inner ear infection called labyrinthitis. Rosie, who lived in Penrith, Cumbria, spent the last five weeks of her life in bed, unable to sit up or use her hands. A CT scan carried out after brain death revealed a very large brain stem tumour on the right side. Her mum Lesley said: "I honestly didn't know what was the matter, but everyone seemed convinced she was just having a bad pregnancy. "It didn't have to kill her. If somebody had spotted it she would have been fine, she would have recovered." Rosie was declared brain dead at 10.30am on 29 Ma...

Cherokee Nation  Photo: Cherokee Casino and Hotel West Siloam Springs poker dealer Tresa Brewer prepares to deal cards. In July, she donated a kidney to save a friend’s life. WEST SILOAM SPRINGS, Okla. â€" As a single mother to three boys and a full-time poker dealer, Tresa Brewer has a lot on her plate. For many, this would be enough to bear alone, but Brewer somehow managed to give up six weeks of her time and her personal finances to help save someone’s life. Brewer, a Cherokee Nation citizen who will celebrate her nine-year anniversary at Cherokee Casino & Hotel West Siloam Springs next spring, recently completed the life-changing process of kidney removal for organ donation. Ricky Anderson, a Houston resident and longtime family friend, was the recipient of the kidney. Originally a friend of her father, Brewer said she met Anderson 15 years ago, “and the bond that we’ve shared through my dad is wonderful,” she adds. Upon hearing of Anderson’s kidney failure in...

WNYT  ALBANY - We know tissue and organ donations help save lives. Albany County wants to make the process of donating tissue and organs easier. New York state drivers can mark on their driver’s license if they want to be a donor. But County Executive Dan McCoy says family members often have to go through the grieving process again, when the tissue bank needs the tissue. McCoy says he sent a petition to the Supreme Court for all paperwork to be streamlined to make the process simpler. On Monday morning, several people spoke during a news conference, including Sam Messina, a father who lost his son to a drunken driver, 11 years ago. “What we got to know is 100 patients in 25 states. We had people who were suffering had their quality of their lives improve because of our son,” said Messina. For more information, you can visit the Center for Donation and Transplant’s website by clicking here . Story Source ______________________________________________________  "You have ...

KY Forward | Allison Perry Photo: Organ recipient Jim Halcomb, center, joined his family at the Gift of Life Memorial Celebration at UK Chandler Hospital. (Photo from UKNow) Forty years ago, Perry County native Jim Halcomb received the gift of life â€" in the form of a new kidney â€" from an anonymous organ donor. Halcomb, who was only 20 years old at the time, suffered from severe kidney disease and required dialysis three times a week, eight hours at a time. After his transplant, his health improved, and he moved on with his life, serving as a police officer for more than 25 years. Because of the rules and regulations surrounding organ donation at the time of his transplant, he never knew that he could contact the family of his organ donor to express his appreciation. But that changed last month, when Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA) and UK HealthCare facilitated communications between Halcomb and his donor’s family. With the encouragement of Donna Slone, the clie...

Donate Life California “Donate Life California is saddened to hear the news of Ana Stenzel’s passing over the weekend. Ana and her sister Isa’s fight with Cystic Fibrosis proved to others who battle the horrible disease that illness should not stop one from living. In Ana’s words “cherish your life and health, live, breathe deeply!” Ana will live on through her legacy of raising awareness for CF and organ, eye and tissue donation. She was an inspiration in life and continues to be an inspiration, as well as a hero, in death.” â€" Donate Life California From Ana’s Facebook page posted on Sunday, September 22, 2013: “With profound sadness as well as tremendous gratitude for her two organ donors and donor families, the love of so many family, friends and fans, and the brightness she brought to all of our lives, we regret to share that Ana Stenzel passed away this morning, following a hard fought battle with intestinal cancer. With her transplanted lungs, she was bre...

KTVU | Evan Borders SANTA CLARA, Calif. â€" The California Transplant Donor Network put on their annual Donate Life Run/Walk at California's Great America theme park in Santa Clara on Saturday, September 20th. About 1000 runners and walkers took to the 5k course, as well a ‘kids dash’, all in an effort to raise funds and advocate the importance of tissue and organ donation. “Please become a donor; I’m alive and well. It’s been 10 years since October, 10 years since the surgery,” said Trista Allen from Antioch who was there to support the event and raise awareness for donors. “I caught the flu, it turned into cardiomyopathy and I got a heart transplant when I was 11.” Continue reading - more photos in slide show ______________________________________________________  "You have the power to SAVE lives."  To register as a donor TODAY In California:  www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org  Outside California:  www.organdonor.gov | ...

OPPOSING VIEWS | Michael Allen Former Texas Congressman and Presidential Candidate Ron Paul claims the way to solve the organ donation problem in America is to allow people to buy and sell organs as they do with goods at a grocery store. Paul wrote on his website The-Free-Foundation.org about cystic fibrosis patient Sarah Murnaghan, who was originally denied a lung transplant because she was too young to be on the adult transplant list, which begins at age 12. A federal judge intervened in her case and allowed her to get the transplant. However, Paul says this all could have been avoided if Murnaghan and other transplant patients were allowed to buy their organs on the free market, which would award the highest bidder. "If we trust the market to deliver food, shelter, and all other necessities, why should we not trust it to deliver healthcareâ€"including organs?" Paul said. "If organ donors or their heirs were compensated for donating, more people would have an ince...

Oakland Press News  Photo: Avery Devereux of Royal Oak  Ann and John Devereux of Royal Oak and their 3-year-old daughter, Avery, will be among the people from across Michigan expected to converge at the Capitol on Wednesday for the second Donate Life Capitol Celebration. The event recognizes and raises awareness of the miracle of organ, eye and tissue transplantation. Avery received the cornea transplants and is doing well, her parents said. Her transplants took place this year, one in February and the other in March. The celebration will also be a day to express sorrow and gratitude for the thousands who have died and selflessly donated to save and improve the lives of others. The event in downtown Lansing is open to the public and brings together hundreds of donor families, transplant recipients and patients waiting for donors. The gathering, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is intended to promote donation. Free lunch will be provided. Continue reading ____________________________________...

The Columbus Dispatch | Misti Crane Photo: BROOKE L AVALLEY | DISPATCH Nina Miller, left, mother of the late Anthony Jackson, a kidney donor, and friend Tikara Robinson, mother of kidney recipient Ryan Robinson, wear shirts commemorating Jackson. Through directed donation, families of organ donors can give the gift of life to someone they know Anthony Jackson was an old soul, some would tell you. He was 22 and single but craved family â€" a wife and children. At parties even as a boy, he could be found with the older set, soaking up their stories. He’d worked in restaurants since he was 16. Jackson made weekly dinner dates with his mom and impromptu visits to his grandmother. He was easy to like, the kind of friend and co-worker you knew would listen and care. Jackson and Ryan Robinson weren’t close. With eight years between them, they’d had different interests as kids. But their mothers â€" Nina Miller and Tikara Robinson â€" have a friendship that spans more than...

Tampa Tribune | Leonore Lake  Bill and Martha Minahan, shown here with Monsignor Laurence Higgins, will be honored with a new award named for them at a dinner on Sept. 26. LENORA LAKE PALMA CEIA â€" Two longtime supporters of organ donation and transplant will be honored with an award to be named for them. Bill and Martha Minahan, who reside in Hunter’s Green in New Tampa, will be the first recipients of the Bill & Martha Minahan Lifetime Achievement Award. It will be presented Sept. 26 at a banquet at Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club, sponsored by the National Organization for Transplant Enlightenment. N.O.T.E.’s mission is to promote the need for organ and tissue donation through public awareness and education, as well as to provide information on social, emotional and financial support opportunities to transplant recipients, caregivers and those awaiting transplantation. Bill Minahan played football at the University of Tampa and coached high school football in Tampa ...