Archive for the ‘Tissue Recipient Stories’ Category

Oklahoma man receives double hand transplant

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

Check out this amazing story of an Oklahoma chiropractor, Dr. Richard Edwards, who was last week the recipient of a double hand transplant. Six hand surgeons took more than 20 hours to complete the surgery, and Edwards is now recovering.

Edwards lost his hands in a truck accident more than 4 years ago. Since then he has been largely dependent on others to perform everyday routines. His family is hopeful that the generous gift from a donor and donor family will give him restored possibilities in life.

Active teenager defies the medical odds thanks to tissue donor

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

We are pleased to introduce our 2011 Tournament of Roses Donate Life float rider 

In 2006 Parker Simpson was an active teenager, ambitious academically and involved in a number of sports including football, lacrosse and wrestling. It was that year, as a high school sophomore, that a sports injury to his ankle soon landed him on the doctor’s table. Parker discovered that he had developed osteomyelitis, a staph infection of the bone, in his tibia and fibula. But he couldn’t have foreseen that this was the beginning of a trying medical journey that would test the resolve of both him and his family for years to come.

Parker was faced with possible amputation of his leg several times as a result of the infection. A successive back injury was further complicated due to the existing illness in his bones. He underwent numerous operations to combat the ankle and back afflictions, resulting in a fused ankle and foot, and yet his young body was just beginning its battle to survive. Read more

Donor Alliance Hosts 11th Annual Donor Dash 5K Run/Walk for Organ and Tissue Donation

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Run for Life Honors, Celebrates and Recognizes those waiting for Lifesaving Transplant

Donor Alliance hosted its signature event, the Donor Dash — a 5K run/walk to honor those who have given the gift of life, celebrate those who have received the gift of life and recognize those still waiting for a transplant. The Donor Dash was held at Washington Park in Denver July 18th.

The Donor Dash began in 2000 and has since evolved into one of the largest road races in the state of Colorado. More than 3,200 people and nearly 90 teams participated in this year’s event. Several hundred volunteers staffed the event. The generous support of 13 financial sponsors and 20 companies and organizations who hosted booths in the race expo, helped offset the cost of this year’s event. Read more

Local kidney donor and recipient celebrate a milestone

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Kelsey Crider, a 21-year-old Boulder woman, recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her kidney transplant, her third following two failed transplants. Crider, who was diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of 19, was given the kidney from living donor Kaye Basedow of Westminster. Basedow decided to become a living donor after seeing Crider’s story in the paper nearly two years ago. Crider reminded her of her own daughter and Basedow says she was inspired to help. The women recently celebrated the transplant anniversary together.  Read more about their story here.

Donor Dash in Denver

Friday, July 16th, 2010

This Sunday, July 18th, the Donor Dash will be taking place in Denver, Colo. and we encourage you to join to show support for all of the organ and tissue donors and recipients in our area. In its 11th year, the Donor Dash is a 5K race and event that has become a well-known and treasured Denver event, bringing together and honoring those who have been affected by organ and tissue donation. Click here for more information on the race, or to sign-up to join the cause.

Transplant Speakers International highlights tissue transplantation, AlloSource allograft recipient

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Frank Bodino, President of Transplant Speakers International, called attention to the importance of tissue donation this week in the company’s newsletter.  The newsletter also features the moving story of Manuel Salazar, a quadruple amputee who received life-saving allografts from AlloSource. To read more about tissue donation and Manuel’s story, check out the newsletter here.

Donate Life Illinois

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

AlloSource was featured today on the Donate Life Illinois Blog. Check out the site to see some of the great things Donate Life Illinois and the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donation Network are doing to improve the lives of donors, donor families and recipients.

Allograft recipient named Tai Chi master of the Year

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

We are pleased to congratulate tissue recipient May Chen on being named Tai Chi master of the Year 2010 by the 12th World Congress on Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Five years ago, we were fortunate to meet Chen,  an internationally recognized martial artist and Tai Chi instructor and a truly inspiring person.  Chen risked losing her career following a severe knee injury, but has experienced a remarkable recovery following a transplanted allograft from AlloSource. Chen has returned to martial arts competition with great success and has become a friendly advocate of tissue donation. (Chen represented AlloSource as a float rider aboard the 2009 Donate Life float in the Tournament of Roses Parade.)

Congrats, May!

Giving the Gift of Life – A Story from Illinois

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

National Donate Life Month is the perfect time to stop and think about the gift of organ and tissue donation and peruse the real-life stories of the people it touches every day. 

One man in St. Rockford, Illinois recently showed the boundless limits of human generosity by giving the ultimate gift of life: he decided to donate one of his kidneys to a cashier he hardly knew. Read their heartwarming story here.

Letter from the CEO

Friday, April 9th, 2010

National Donate Life Month

Reminder: April is National Donate Life Month. It is a great time to reflect on the miracles made possible here at AlloSource thanks to generous donors and their courageous families. Because of their decisions to register as donors, each day we are able to save and enhance the lives of patients in need: providing allograft skin to patients who are severely burned, generating fresh articular cartilage allografts to promote joint restoration for patients who have suffered disease or trauma, processing live cellular bone growth substitutes for patients with broken bones or spinal fusions, and so much more. 

Although still lesser understood than organ transplantation, approximately 1.5 million tissue transplants are performed each year. Celebrate this Donate Life Month by reading some of our touching stories of donor families and tissue recipients. Their chronicles truly bring to life the miraculous possibilities of tissue donation.

And please remember, if you’re not already a donor, register to become one. And pass the word on to your friends and families.

Sincerely,

Tom Cycyota

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