Today we are pleased to offer this story as a part of Donate Life America’s “I Am Hope” initiative, in which a new story about donation or transplantation is shared each day of 2012. This story shows how donated tissue can truly change and enhance someone’s life.
It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving when Kathryn Hart’s life took an unexpected turn. Prior to that day, Hart was the epitome of an active individual. She was a runner, a yoga enthusiast, a horseback rider and an artist who painted and sculpted large pieces. Her active lifestyle was threatened however, when on that Sunday in 2004 Hart fell two stories from a ladder, shattering her leg.
“It was completely and totally shattered. The doctor told me he stopped counting after two dozen pieces of bone,” said Hart.
As a market researcher, Hart had worked in the donation industry, even doing research for the tissue bank that provided her allograft bone.
“I knew that I would probably need donor bone, so I asked specifically about it,” said Hart. “In my fever and drug-induced state, I asked the doctor if he planned to use donor bone and if so, whose it was. He responded with, ‘Who are you?’”
Though the main injury was her shattered leg, Hart’s body responded to the inflammation caused by the fall with a fever of over 104 degrees. (more…)
A large part of who Cameron had become was likely over. Competing as a student athlete on the lacrosse field was what he loved most. As team captain, he had every intention of leading his team throughout his senior year. Additionally, he was planning to continue playing the sport he loved in college.
“When I got word from my doctor that my senior year of lacrosse was over, I was devastated,” said Cameron McDonald.
During a game, Cameron injured his ankle. Thinking it was a minor injury, he continued playing. Despite initially thinking it was just a sprain, he woke up the next morning to an ankle swollen to the size of a basketball. (more…)
Are you willing to do anything to support organ and tissue donation? Guy Vroom certainly is! Guy is working with Donor Aliance as the Colorado drivers license spokesman to raise awareness for donation. Check out just how far Guy is willing to go for the cause!
After losing his son in a robbery gone wrong, Reg Green and his wife made the decision to donate their son’s tissue and organs. In the years to come, Green would find peace in knowing just how many lives his son impacted. Read this story of hope when facing loss here.
The National Kidney Foundation printed these 25 great facts about organ and tissue donation. Take a look and have your donation questions answered here.
U.S. Marshall John Perry was shot and killed in the line of duty while serving his community. After his death, Perry continued to serve his community by saving and enhancing over 100 lives through organ and tissue donation. See the following video to hear about his legacy in life and in death.
National Donor Day is set aside to increase donor awareness and honor those who have already donated. Yet, in the midst of a tragic situation, it is the donor’s family that has to make the hard decisions. Those whose lives are saved or enhanced by that decision are often inspired and touched by the families they have never met. To honor the donor families on National Donor Day, here are words of thanks from our recipients.
“Everything I’ve done since the transplant and all that’s to come are because of the tissue donor family. The allograft gave me a second chance to fulfill an unrealized destiny.” May Chen, fresh tissue recipient (more…)
February 14th is all about love. Not only is it Valentine’s Day, but it’s also National Donor Day. So while you’re remembering to show love for those closest to you, show love to your community by becoming an organ and tissue donor.
In the past, Allograft Possibilities has honored donors by telling their stories. National Donor Day is a great time to look back, read and remember Nick, Cameron and Ryan who chose to show love through donation. Thanks to that love, countless people can spend this Valentine’s Day with their loved ones, appreciating the gift of an enhanced or saved life.
Just weeks after competing in a mini-triathlon with his three sons, Kurt Person lost the ability to use his right shoulder. Prior to the injury-causing accident, Person could often be found competing in triathlons, barefoot-water skiing, test riding motor cycles, All Terrain Vehicles and snow mobiles, or taking part in his favorite activity: playing ball with his sons.
While testing the brakes on an all-terrain vehicle as part of his occupation, Person crashed, severing the four main tendons and ligaments in his shoulder.
“I was told a break would have been easier to fix,” said Person. “After a month of immobilized healing, it became clear that a total reconstruction would be needed to restore the arm and shoulder function.”
What Person didn’t know was that somewhere, someone who had lost a loved one had donated tissue, making the reconstruction of his shoulder (more…)
Pop sensation Justin Bieber increases organ and tissue donations while helping a young girl in need
While awaiting a lung transplant, 20-year-old Helene Campbell decided to take action and increase donor awareness. Campbell and friends focused on a Twitter campaign with a specific goal in mind: getting Justin Bieber to take notice and spread the word to his 16-million followers.
Well they got Justin’s attention, and with his support via Twitter, a Canadian organ registry received more than 500 new registrants within just a few days. Check out the full story here.
Congratulations to Donor Alliance, the federally-designated organ procurement organization serving Colorado and Wyoming, which this week reported that it increased driver’s license office donor registration in 2011. This maintains Colorado’s position as one of the highest donor designation rates in the country. (At the close of 2011, 67 percent of Colorado’s licensed drivers and ID card holders had joined the registry. Similarly, Wyoming’s registry remained at a strong 59 percent donor designation rate.)
The organization also recovered more bone and joint restoration tissue grafts, allowing roughly 48,000 people to regain mobility and active lives after disease or trauma last year.
Donor Alliance has also launched Donate Life Colorado and Donate Life Wyoming Facebook pages, where it will bust myths surrounding donation, and answer questions from the public.
“Ryan died April 7, 2007. My head knows this as fact, but my heart is still waiting for my boy to come home.” Ryan’s mother Pat cries for him every night. They shared a special closeness and a love of people, especially small people.
Ryan never met a stranger and his friends said his constant smile was their favorite part about him. They could be having a down day, but after being with Ryan they felt good. He would introduce his mother to his friends this way: “This is my Mom. She’s cool!” He was fun, funny and never used dark humor to run someone else down. He was comfortable in his skin, confident and okay with himself and who he was.
Ryan Joseph Landers was born in Louisville, KY, March 24, 1988. He was the middle child, younger brother to Chris and older brother to Kelly. He was 6 when the family moved to Cape Girardeau, MO. Three years later the family settled in Springfield, IL. It wound up being the place Ryan called home for the longest period in his life, although Louisville was always home and he’s buried there in Resthaven Cemetery about a mile from where the family lived the first six years of his life.
Ryan excelled in art and later his teacher told him when he was graduating from high school that he should consider a degree in art education. He was great with kids and one of his part-time jobs was a monitor in the after-school program at a private church school.
His passions began with skateboarding, followed by guitar lessons and several guitars and amplifiers, and ultimately cars. At various times Ryan owned up to 7 cars. He would make modifications on them regarding air flow and exhaust systems. He repainted the interior trim on his ’98 Hyundai Tiburon, which still sits in the family driveway. His project car was “Delores”, an ’89 Honda Civic, and it was his primary commuter car to work and school. His pride and joy was the 2000 Honda Civic SI, with the V-Tech engine, which he and his mother bought in December, 2006, and he had his accident in 4 months later. (more…)
Each year, in addition to sponsoring a float rider, non-profit tissue bank AlloSource selects two employees, and an executive leader to attend the Rose Parade and experience the Donate Life Float first-hand. Employees compete for the positions with essays describing what participating would mean to them. The AlloSource participants chosen this year, Heather McDowell and Alan Okerman, and executive Olivia Thompson have since had time to reflect on their experiences at the Rose Parade. Their remarks and several personal photos are below.
“How do you express in words all the emotions you feel as you meet and talk with the incredible families that come to the Rose Parade to be a part of the remarkable Donate Life experience? As I reflect back on last week, two groups come to mind: the donor families and the recipients. The donor families are the most courageous, unselfish individuals you will ever meet, sad but truly at peace knowing they have saved and enhanced lives by their generosity. The recipients are the most thankful and grateful individuals, you cannot capture in words their level of appreciation and awe for what has been given to them. All the families I talked to expressed that they are appreciative of what we (AlloSource) do in this incredible circle of life.”
Once again the Donate Life Float was a tremendous success and particularly moving addition to the Tournament of Roses Parade. Check out some excellent photography from the day, done by Scott Weersing.
The Donate Life Float, titled "...One More Day" to remember a loved one, celebrate life, keep hope alive, and make a difference to others.
Susan Cossabone joined the float as a rider to show the nation the possibilities of cellular bone transplantation. Susan was sponsored by tissue bank AlloSource.
The float won the Judges' Special Trophy for outstanding showmanship and dramatic impact.
This week ESPN’s Rick Reilly wrote a poignant story about a handful of athletes who became organ and tissue donors after their deaths, and will on Monday be celebrated with floragraphs on the Donate Life Float in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
Reilly says about the tradition of the float: “It’s a lot for a Monday morning. The Donate Life float feels like both a funeral and a christening, like heartache and heartsong.
It will represent the best of us: the pro fighter Paco Rodriguez, who died in a title bout and whose organs live in five others now; the snowboarding champion Dylan Peters, who was inspired to be a donor when he met Olympic snowboarder and liver recipient Chris Klug; and the Air Force Academy head football manager, suicide victim Marc Henning, whose body was harvested for dozens of tissue grafts, including one to his own mother.
It’s a downer and an upper and a breath-taker all in one. It’s 100 feet of flower- and cinnamon- and split-pea-covered emotion. But it’s helping.
There were 65 million registered donors in the U.S. in 2006. Now there are 102 million. That’s still only 42 percent of 18-and-over Americans, but people are starting to get it: Death can mean life.”
Susan Cossabone set to show the nation the possibilities of cellular bone transplantation in 2012 Tournament of Roses Parade®
AlloSource, a leading developer, processor and distributor of bone and soft-tissue allografts for use in surgical procedures around the world, will this year sponsor a living symbol of the evolving possibilities of tissue transplantation as a float rider aboard the annual Donate Life float in the Tournament of Roses Parade®. Susan R. Cossabone, an equine instructor from Egg Harbor City, NJ, was no longer able to ride horses following a devastating car accident. But now Cossabone thrives and rides again thanks to a cutting-edge product consisting of bone and adult mesenchymal stem cells from a tissue donor. On January 2nd, Cossabone will join 27 other riders from around the country on the Donate Life float, now in its ninth year, in a tribute to the millions of people touched by organ, tissue and blood donation.
AlloSource CEO Tom Cycyota said ““We are thrilled to once again sponsor a float rider aboard the Donate Life Rose Parade float as a way to increase awareness about tissue donation, which is still lesser understood than organ donation but can have the same life-saving and life-enhancing benefits. Susan is a symbol of the exciting new ways we can do more with life, thanks to the courageous generosity of tissue donors and their families.”
As Thanksgiving approaches, please pause with us to give thanks for the selfless tissue donors and their brave families who make the choice to give the gift of life.
Each year, life-saving and life-enhancing tissue is provided by approximately 30,000 tissue donors. Just one tissue donor can enhance the lives of more than 50 people.
Approximately 1.5 million allografts are transplanted each year for a variety of life-saving and life-enhancing surgeries that many are not aware of:
bone grafts for patients with bones degenerated by cancer
cornea transplants to help restore sight
heart valves to replace damaged heart tissues
skin grafts to save the lives of burn victims
tendon, meniscus and soft tissue replacements to help people lead more active lives.
National Donor Sabbath is a time for faith leaders of all denominations across America to alert their communities to the pressing need for organ and tissue donations to save lives.
It takes place two weekends before Thanksgiving each year, making it November 11-13 this year.
Most major religions practiced in the United States have stated positions on the subject of organ and tissue donation for their congregants. There is general agreement among these religions that this type of donation is an act of charity in support of human life.
If your place of worship would like information about Donor Sabbath, and ways to speak to attendees about organ and tissue donation click here for an informative brochure.
We are excited to see army veteran and burn survivor-turned actor J.R. Martinez bravely putting a public face to the topic of burn treatment, via his starring role on Dancing with the Stars this season. The story of this skin recipient is a great source of hope for other burn survivors around the country struggling with the lasting scars of their injuries.
About J.R. via Dancing with the Stars: J.R. Martinez is an Iraq war veteran, motivational speaker and actor on ABC’s All My Children. In April 2003, at 19 years old, J.R. was serving as a Humvee driver for the U.S. Army in Iraq when his left front tire hit a landmine. He suffered smoke inhalation and severe burns to more than 40 percent of his body. J.R. was immediately evacuated and sent to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio where he spent 34 months in recovery. Since his injury, he has undergone 33 different surgeries, including skin grafts and cosmetic surgery. While in recovery, he started speaking to other burn patients within the hospital, sharing his experiences and listening to theirs. News of his story and efforts to help others quickly spread, first on a local level and then to national circuits, leading to appearances on Oprah, 60 Minutes, CNN and more.
Bilingual in English and Spanish, J.R. has traveled the country since 2004, spreading his message of resilience and optimism. Today he is a sought-after motivational speaker and has shared the stage with many notable individuals. In October 2008, J.R. joined the cast of ABC’s Emmy® Award-winning daytime drama All My Children as combat veteran Brot Monroe.
Allograft skin transplants (skin from deceased tissue donors) are crucial to saving and healing burn victims, as they provide a temporary cover until the wound is ready to accept the patient’s own skin or until the patient’s limited donor sites are available for autografting.
A thought-provoking look at the decision to become an organ and tissue donor. Take a few minutes to watch this somewhat humorous video (which parodies Nike’s LeBron James advertisements) that tackles a serious topic. Compiled by a student group at Ohio State University and Lifeline of Ohio.
The clip stars former OSU football player Dane Sanzenbacher, who now plays for the Chicago Bears.
A great editorial from Slate encourages readers who are looking to honor and celebrate Steve Jobs to help the next Steve Jobs by becoming organ and tissue donors. Two years ago, Jobs got a liver transplant to prolong his life.
Says the article:
Steve Jobs made machines. They’re machines you can type on, or talk on, or listen to music on. He didn’t just tinker with gadgets. He changed what they did. He made machines do what machines had never done before.
But there was one machine he couldn’t fix: his body.
Jobs died yesterday at 56 because of a glitch in his programming. The glitch was cancer. A lot of smart people are trying to fix this glitch in future releases of the human body. But that’s going to take a while. In the meantime, there’s something you can do to help people such as Jobs. You can supply replacement parts for the machines that keep them alive. You can sign up as an organ donor.
Very poignant.
Remember: tissue donation can have the same life-saving and life-enhancing benefits of organ donation.
Donate Life America announced this month that a key goal set by the donation and transplant community in 2006 has been reached: the United States can now boast that 100 million Americans – roughly 42 percent of the adult population – are registered as organ, eye and tissue donors in state donor registries.
We are so excited to announce that AllograftPossibilities is the winner of two marketing awards from the American Association of Tissue Banks, (AATB), the only national tissue banking organization in the United States.
The AATB said:
“AllograftPossibilities is an outstanding example of an AATB member utilizing its marketing budget for the overall betterment of the industry, and public education surrounding tissue donation,” said P. Robert Rigney, Jr., Esq., Chief Executive Officer of the AATB. “The website’s great functionality, approachable design, search engine optimization and more made it a natural choice.”
A big thank you to all of the donor families, tissue recipients, OPO and medical professional partners who have generously contributed their time and shared their stories with us. Without your help this site would not be what it is today.
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