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,” Person said. “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

“I was at home recovering when a postcard arrived in the mail,” Person said.  “Up to this point, the only information I had about the surgery was that it took twice as long as expected.”

The postcard he received told Person that someone donated the tissue that was used to repair his shoulder and “What a gift,” Person said. “I will remember this gift each time I throw a ball, ride a bike or just try to keep up with my active family.”

After less than six months, Person’s rebuilt shoulder is nearly 100 percent back to normal.

“My only limitation is that my fastball is not as fast as it used to be,” Person said.  He can, however, throw a ball with his sons again.

“This may not be a surprise, but I was a full anatomical donor,” Person said. “If something were to happen to me, I plan to pass this gift on to others.”

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.

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 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.

It is not known what caused Ryan’s car to veer into the oncoming traffic.  There was no excessive speed, bad weather, use of cell phone, smoking, drugs or alcohol.  Witnesses said he simply drifted over the line.  He was on his way to work a little past 4:30pm on Good Friday, April 6, 2007.  He had dropped off his sister and girlfriend within the hour before the crash.   The two-car, head-on collision totaled both vehicles and broke the heel of the oncoming driver.  Traffic was tied up on the two-lane road for hours.  The first responders struggled for 45 minutes to remove the roof of Ryan’s car and extricate him from the wreckage.  One fireman was able to climb inside the mangled car to administer oxygen and speak to Ryan to calm him down, although he was never fully conscious after the accident.

There were other injuries, but Ryan was declared brain dead within 24 hours.  Gift of Hope was on the scene in the hospital and was available to discuss organ and tissue donation when Ryan’s family was ready.  The recovery process took place on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007.  The idea of being a donor was Ryan’s idea.  He had spoken with his mother about it, coincidentally, not long before his accident.  When she protested about the desecration of her baby’s body, he just said:  “Mom, what sense does it make not to?”

Of course, there is no desecration of the donor’s body.  Ryan’s gifts of organ and tissue presently have helped 61 recipients in at least 12 states and Korea.  Five more items await distribution in AlloSource tissue banking facilities in Denver and San Diego.  While one might say that Ryan’s work is finally done, it isn’t.  Ryan’s kind of legacy will go on and on for generations in the people’s lives that he saved or improved.  They will go on to have families and/or to remain alive and connected with their families.  The ages of Ryan’s recipients range from 4 months to 83 years of age.  They live in Illinois, California, Utah, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri and New Jersey, as well as Korea.

“Enjoy every sandwich” was Ryan’s credo.  “Giving Without Reward” was the sermon title of a pastor in Springfield, IL, on the morning of November 13, the National Donor Sabbath.  Becoming a donor is the most selfless thing an individual can do, and it can have the most significance of anything an individual will ever do.  Who knows how many lives are touched by a single recipient’s life-saving or life-enhancing transplanted organ or tissue?  It fans way beyond the individual donor or recipient.  Then, multiply that times the total number of recipients, and the numbers could be staggering.

Further, Ryan has a scholarship in his name at Lincoln Land Community College, where he was a second-semester freshman in the automotive tech program when he died.  To date, there have been four winners of the Ryan J. Landers Memorial Scholarship in Automotive Technology.  His primary instructor had the idea and contributes funds to it as does Ryan’s family.

Ryan’s family could not imagine anything helping them more to get through their loss and grief than knowing of the powerful gifts of life that Ryan gave to so many others.  Families try to teach their children how to live, but Ryan taught his family how to die.

“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.”

- Olivia Thompson, Chief Financial Officer

“The 2012 Rose Parade weekend was truly a beautiful, touching, once in a lifetime opportunity. The float’s theme, ‘One More Day…’ tied in beautifully to the Rose Parade theme of ‘Just Imagine…’, reminding us all to make every day count. Seeing 400 volunteers – consisting of donor families, recipients, sponsors, friends and family – come together to remember their loved ones while giving thanks and support to each other was incredibly moving.  Not only those involved in bringing the float to life were touched; the judges were also moved as they awarded the float the Special Judge’s Trophy, highlighting outstanding showmanship and dramatic impact.  A beautiful way to begin Donate Life’s campaign ’20 Million in 2012!’  Thank you, AlloSource!”

- Heather McDowell, Business Development Coordinator/Records Retention Coordinator

“Going into the Rose Parade trip I was focused on the float and parade. Both were amazing, but it was the people that I will remember. It was like being introduced as a new member of a huge family. The interesting thing about this Donate Life ‘family’ was the overwhelming sense of gratitude. For recipients, they were grateful for the gift they received and the extra time that it gave them. They proudly carried pictures of their donors and genuinely wanted to give some of that time back to help in any way they could. For donors, they were grateful for something good coming out of great sorrow. Some were still working through grief but they were never alone because they were surrounded by other ‘family’ members who were willing to share their experiences or just provide a hug. And speaking of hugs, as a representative of the tissue processing ‘family’ I received many of them, thanking us for what we do. Both recipients and donor families were so grateful for our service!”

- Alan Okerman, Senior Business Systems Analyst

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.”

Read the full article here.

Be sure to tune into the Rose Parade and watch for the Donate Life Float on Monday, January 2, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time. 

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.”

To read more about Susan, click here.