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Scott
Member
Username: donatelifeil
Post Number: 4
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 09:58 am: | 
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We recently created a series of video spots on four different Illinois college students who have personal ties to organ donation. Check out the links below and feel free to share!
"Because" - The Story of an Organ Donor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKn-IdsNZ1U
Laura's Story - "My Dad"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZmHJo5AQRI
Chandler's Story - "A Brand New Heart"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeyZh27GYqk
One more coming soon!
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Hostess Risa
Member
Username: risa
Post Number: 6792
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 10:29 am: |
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Thank you so much Scott
The subject you tube was inspired by you
You really know how to pull at my heart strings.
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Karen R.
Member
Username: relivkaren
Post Number: 1898
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 09:43 pm: |
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Scott:
Great videos! Each one of them made me cry. I am one of those waiting so I appreciate the work you do so much. I don't know how to say thank you to all those people that go out there and spread the news about organ donation. I guess I will say it to you and you can thank all of them for me!! Thank you so much!! Thank you for helping people understand and become aware that organ donation saves lives!!!
God Bless!
Karen
Dx: Bronchiolitis Obliterans
Waiting for dbl lung tx at Cleveland Clinic
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. |
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Scott
Member
Username: donatelifeil
Post Number: 5
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 08:08 am: |
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Thanks so much Karen. We're just one step in the process but I promise you we're doing everything possible to get the word out and move people to action via registration. I'm hoping those lungs come soon for ya.
Here's our latest video about Lewis University student, Meghan Lagomarcino:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjuSZ51oSYw
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Karen R.
Member
Username: relivkaren
Post Number: 1914
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 05:39 pm: |
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Scott:
Another compelling video! I just wanted to reach out and hug that young girl. These videos will certainly get people's attention that there is a HUGE need for more organs. Once again, thank you for all that you do.
I can help right now in small ways, but when I get my lungs I will be able to help in more active ways. I am looking forward to helping people understand and support organ donation.
God Bless!
Karen
Dx: Bronchiolitis Obliterans
Waiting for dbl lung tx at Cleveland Clinic
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. |
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Hostess Risa
Member
Username: risa
Post Number: 6827
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 16, 2008 - 05:57 pm: |
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Hi Scott
I just watched all your videos. All the videos brought tears to my eyes. You do great WORK!
I would like to make up another email forward and include one of your videos or perhaps linking up to your youtube page. Please send in your suggestions. Working together on this would be a great thing.
Here is the email forward we all created
We, in the transplant community, want to make more people aware of organ donation and the different types of ways that you can be an organ donor. Please read the following message that a lot of friends on transplantbuddies.org and I (Patti) put together......
If a stranger was hurt in an auto accident, was choking in a local restaurant, drowning, etc., would you try to save them? How about if it was a family member who needed a live donor? If you could give back a life, would you? If you answered “Yes” then let me tell you that there is a way that you can really give someone their life back. ARE YOU AN ORGAN DONOR? If you already are, then we who are in great need, thank you from our hearts. There is no gift that could be more precious than replacing certain death with life! It may even be one of my friends' lives that you save!
You may or may not know me, but my name is Patti Prince and I had the life saving three organ transplant that I needed on January 31, 2007. Due to Cystic Fibrosis, my lungs and liver were deteriorating, and fast. I was told in 2004 that I needed a double lung and liver transplant and started the evaluations in 2005. I found out that I was pregnant in July 2005, which held off the evaluations and being listed for the transplants. After my son was born, I was listed on the lung and liver transplant lists in August 2006. By the end of that year, I was so sick that we weren't sure what was going to happen. Was I even going to see my son's first birthday?? I did celebrate his birthday in the beginning of January 2007 and then ended up right back in the hospital with a lung function of only 15 percent and my liver function was also declining. On January 30, we got the news that we had a perfect match and I was going to receive the transplants. Due to someone making the decision to be an organ donor, MY LIFE WAS SAVED! I think of my donor every day even though I have no idea who it was. I can continue to be a grand daughter, daughter, sister, aunt, wife, daughter-in-law, and best of all....a Mommy to my now 2-year-old son.
I am not alone. As of May 1, 2008, there are 99,134 people in need of an organ transplant. Each day, about 77 people receive organ transplants. However, 19 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs. Did you know that there are a variety of people who need transplants? There are people waiting from new-born infants to some of the elderly. No matter your age, there is probably without a doubt someone who needs your organs if you pass, sometimes even if you're alive!
If you would like to know more about people like me, please take a few (precious) minutes and visit us at http://transplantbuddies.org You will find an amazing group of people who share their experience, offer help, hope and most importantly, lots of love. If you’re not an organ donor, this should inspire you to become one. Here are a couple of statements from friends of mine on the site.....
"My name is Holly. I was placed on the National Transplant List for a new heart on Oct 20,2006. I would have to say that everyday of these past 18 months has been a struggle for me. As my health continually deteriorates there are many days I'm afraid I will not survive to have the chance for transplantation. I pray more people will understand the urgency and need for Organ Donation and that it is the most AMAZING gift anyone can give. It gives the gift of life...maybe even to me."
"I am Karen, all of my life I dreamed of being a mother. 2 years after being blessed with a beautiful son, I was diagnosed with a rare lung disease called Bronchiolitis Obliterans. We were devastated and my dreams were crushed. Our son had to go to daycare as I struggled through each day just to do normal things like get out of bed, get dressed, or take a shower. As my lung function declined, my only option was lung transplantation. I have now been waiting 3 months for the wonderful gift of new lungs. My son is now 4 yrs. old. He has only known a sick mommy. The gift of new lungs will give my son his mother back. Organ donation doesn't just save lives, it saves families. Please remember that children need organs too. Donating children's organs can help both children and small adults."
Now, I have personally met Karen. She and I go to the same transplant clinic. She is a strong woman with a very big heart and I want her to feel the same way that I feel now. She is desperately awaiting her new lungs so that she can enjoy life with her son. She is one of the adults that will most likely receive a child's organs if the parent is willing enough to donate if something happens to their child.
Can you make that commitment to save the lives of people like Holly, Karen, and the others in the world in need of organs? Of course you can...become an organ donor today!!
Thank you very much for reading our message. If you can kindly forward our message of Hope, we would greatly appreciate your efforts.
Sincerely,
Patti (double lung and liver transplant survivor)
This message is approved by Risa:
Founder of http://transplantbuddies.org
Double lung transplant survivor
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Scott
Member
Username: donatelifeil
Post Number: 6
Registered: 08-2008
| | Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 02:16 pm: |
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Hi Patti,
Great to meet you and I've received your email before! Cool, good to know the word is getting out. Absolutely, feel free to spread our message as far as it can go. Here's a simple suggestion to work off below.
In addition Patti, we'd love to have you share your story so that we can feature you as part of our Illinois Donor Diaries (http://donatelifeillinois.org/donatelife/donor-diaries.htm). Let me know if you're interested.
Thanks!
Scott
Subj: Want to save lives? Be an Organ Donor!
Body:
Today, 18 people will die waiting for an organ transplant. In addition, there are now over 4,700 Illinois residents and 100,000 people nationwide awaiting lifesaving transplants.
Together, we can make a difference in helping save these lives. As a registered organ donor, you have the potential to save or enhance the lives of more than 25 people. Check out the inspiring video series below various Illinois college students who have personally been impacted by organ donation.
When you're done, be sure to register to be an organ donor here:
https://www.donatelifeillinois.org/donatelife/registration.asp.
IMPORTANT: Illinois residents need to RE-REGISTER after Jan. 1, 2006 to ensure their wishes to be a donor are honored. Signing the back of your driver's license is no longer adequate.
*Non-Illinois residents can register at http://www.ShareYourLife.org.
Please forward this email along to everyone you know and thanks for helping save lives!
- Patti (double lung and liver transplant survivor)
Chandler's Story - "A Brand New Heart"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeyZh27GYqk
"Because" - The Story of an Organ Donor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKn-IdsNZ1U
Laura's Story - "My Dad"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZmHJo5AQRI
Meghan's Story - "Organ Donors Make a Difference"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjuSZ51oSYw}
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Patti
Member
Username: transplantmommy07
Post Number: 1321
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 05:49 pm: |
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Hey Scott. Feel free to use my story if you want. I would love to do more to help get awareness out there for organ donation. Would you like me to go more in depth that the e-mail that was sent that Risa posted above? If so, let me know and I can get something written up or you can use what I wrote in the stories section of this site. Thanks for making a difference!!
Patti
Double lung and liver Tx, 1/31/07
1st one at the Cleveland Clinic
Forum Leader
Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. |
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Patti
Member
Username: transplantmommy07
Post Number: 1322
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Friday, October 17, 2008 - 06:05 pm: |
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I just watched a bunch of your videos and they are great! You can watch what the transplants have done for me here......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLISjHGWVOo
This is probably about the third time that I had played the flute since the transplants. I had not been able to play in about 2 years or more.
Patti
Double lung and liver Tx, 1/31/07
1st one at the Cleveland Clinic
Forum Leader
Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. |
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Hostess Risa
Member
Username: risa
Post Number: 6868
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, October 18, 2008 - 09:17 am: |
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Hi Patti
Here is what I would like to do. I would like to create another forward and I asked Scott if he wanted to join in on the email forward. He wrote back with his post above. Would you like to take what he has written and what you and all of us put together several months ago and create another gift of life forward?
Karen and Charon did not receive their transplant since this forward and this can be part of the reminder in the email how urgent the waiting list has become.
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Patti
Member
Username: transplantmommy07
Post Number: 1327
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Saturday, October 18, 2008 - 12:33 pm: |
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I'm sure that we can do that. I will see what I can put together in the next couple of days.
Patti
Double lung and liver Tx, 1/31/07
1st one at the Cleveland Clinic
Forum Leader
Life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. |
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Hostess Risa
Member
Username: risa
Post Number: 6883
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, October 18, 2008 - 01:09 pm: |
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Great! Please include TransplantBuddies in the mix.
In the new organ donor forum, I had written about inviting others by email forward to join us by sharing why they decided to become an organ donor. We can give them a few links to visit.
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