Cherokee Casino employee saves a life through organ donation

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 early 2009, Brewer kept his situation in the back of her mind for four years. This April, knowing a donor had not been found, Brewer felt compelled to get tested.
______________________________________________________ 
"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 | www.donatelife.net

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