texas organ sharing alliance insert for san antonio woman
DESCRIPTION
Special section for San Antonio Woman magazne. Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA) July/August 2014TRANSCRIPT
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For more than 38 years, Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA) has served as the regional
organ donation organization serving over 6 million people in 56 counties in South and
Central Texas. TOSA is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization and is one of 58
federally designated organizations of its kind in the United States.
With a mission to optimize organ donation for our service area, TOSA's primary focus
is to facilitate the process of organ donation for those families wishing to donate as
well as those generous individuals who registered to be donors. Through those gifts
from these heroic individuals, 120,000 men, women and children on the waiting list
can have a second chance at life.
We hope that after reading the inspiring stories of our wonderful volunteers, you will
be encouraged to take a few minutes to designate and share your decision to donate.
Please enjoy the next few pages, and we invite you to visit the official state donor reg-
istry online at www.DonateLifeTexas.org where you can register to Donate Life.
Thank you.
About Us
A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
For more information and resources, please call 1-866-685-0277.
GOVERNINGBOARD
Texas Organ Sharing Alliance
2014
Charles P. Andrews,MD, CPI
Intensive Care Director of Clinical ResearchDiagnostics Research Group
Glenn Halff, MDTransplant Surgeon
UTHSC at San AntonioTransplant Center, MC 7858
Michael Horton,PharmD
Voluntary Health
Bruce MitchellRepresenting the public
PartnerStrasburger Price
Oppenheimer Blend
Jerry Morrisey, PhD Voluntary Health
Beverly Purcell-GuerraRepresenting the public
Vince Speeg, MD, ChairChair of Board
UTHSC at San AntonioTransplant Center, MC 7858
Daniel StantonHospital Administrator
Vice President, Transplant Services
Texas Transplant Institute
Ken Washburn, MDMedical Director
UTHSC at San AntonioTransplant Center, MC 7858
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A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
A record 436 people received life-saving organ
transplants in 2013 thanks to 119 selfless donors
in Central and South Texas, according to Texas
Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA). Twenty-five percent
of the donors chose to give the Gift of Life by registering
online or when they renewed their driver’s license.
TOSA, the organ donation organization in Central and
South Texas, works closely with families when their loved
one has the opportunity to donate. TOSA data show a dra-
matic increase in both registered donors as well as the num-
ber of organs transplanted.
“In 2013 we saw the number of registered donors grow sig-
nificantly, which helped alleviate a potential burden from
many families in considering donation after a tragedy oc-
curred. By registering to be official organ donors, those self-
less and compassionate individuals gave their families a very
special kind of support and comfort in knowing their loved
one's intent to donate,” states TOSA CEO Patrick Giordano.
“Last year, 119 people saved the lives of 436 people who
were awaiting an organ transplant. That is a dramatic in-
crease from 2012, when 94 Central and South Texans do-
nated, saving the lives of 353 people.”
Pam Porter lost her precious son after the 9-year-old expe-
rienced a sudden brain aneurysm. When her family was
given the opportunity to donate his organs, their answer
was an unequivocal yes. “We take comfort in knowing that
five people have been able to enjoy their families and their
lives longer than if we had not donated Scott’s organs. Scott
was a spiritual child, and we felt very firmly that he would
want this,” states Pam.
Nationally, nine out of 10 people support organ donation yet
may fail to register as donors and share their wishes with
family members. Texans are encouraged to register at
www.DonateLifeTexas.org and discuss their wishes with their
families. For more information about organ dona-
tion programs and community initiatives, call
Texas Organ Sharing Alliance at 1-866-685-0277 or
visit us at www.txorgansharing.org.
of Central and South Texans Receive Organ Transplants in 2013Record Number
It was a cold October afternoon when I got a call from Abigail.
She was in the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin,
filling out the forms to finally get her driver’s license. She
was 23 years old and had lived most of her life in cities
where a car was a liability rather than an asset – never any
place to park them. So she never got her license. She was
now living in Austin, a city she had grown to love, and was
about to start social work school at UT. She figured she
would get to classes by car or by bike, so a driver’s license
would finally come in handy. She called me because there
was a question on the form that asked if she would agree
to be an organ donor. How should she answer? She wanted
to say yes and was calling her mother for affirmation of this
seemingly very important decision.
My beautiful daughter — golden-red hair, grown-up and on
her own — was one of my best friends. She was compas-
sionate, giving of herself whenever she saw people in need,
loving life and able to experience life’s beauties. She also
had a great gift for sharing her positive view of the world.
She was about to venture on a career to help others. In her
own words, which come from her social work school appli-
cation, “I plan to work directly with disadvantaged children
and their families to provide equal access to social services,
encourage educational achievement, and foster a sense of
self-pride and ownership over their lives and their commu-
nities.” In her memory, we (her family and friends) have es-
tablished “Abigail’s Fund for Children,” which we are also
calling “Abby’s Children” to carry on her life dreams of help-
ing disadvantaged children and their families.
Her last great gift was giving the Gift of Life. Never in a mil-
lion years did I think that our conversation in October would
bring me to write these words. I had forgotten about that
conversation until we spoke to the ICU doctor at the hospi-
tal where our daughter was being cared for. The first thing
that came to my mind when he painted a very grim picture
was to offer her organs for donation. If there was any way
to have part of her live on in others, I desperately wanted
that. When we arrived there the next morning, they told us
how grateful they were that Abby had registered as an
organ donor just nine months earlier in October. They had
already started to assemble the teams that would hopefully
save the lives of others.
Losing a child is the most difficult thing I will ever face in
my life, more difficult than someday facing my own death.
Knowing that she could help others, which had been her
life goal, was a great source of comfort to me. Now several
years later, I continue to find great comfort in this decision.
*Note from TOSA: Please take the time to register
your decision to be an organ donor and speak with
your family members about your decision. Taking the
burden off family members on the worst day of their
lives is perhaps the second greatest gift you can give.6
A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
For more information and resources, please call 1-866-685-0277.
Perspectivefrom a Donor Mom:
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A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
Television viewers in the Rio Grande
Valley didn’t know what led KRGV-
CHANNEL 5 NEWS sportscaster Dave
Brown to take a leave of absence,
but today everyone knows about his
life-saving kidney transplant and his
efforts to encourage others to be-
come registered organ donors.
Following a living donation from his
neighbor Penny, Dave was able to re-
turn to reporting on local sports.
While getting back into his routine,
he knew the best way to thank his
donor for her selfless act was to use
his position to urge others to give life
a second chance as a donor.
The percentage of registered donors
in the Valley with Donate Life Texas is
the lowest in state, and it takes a dedicated team of donor
families, transplant recipients and local businesses to sup-
port the Donate Life message by encouraging the commu-
nity to consider donation. Through the help of national
initiatives like the Workplace Partnership for Life (WPFL)
campaign, businesses can be leaders in their community to
encourage change.
WPFL, created in 2001, has a network of more than 11,000
company partners who help promote a “donor-friendly
America” within their organization. Action efforts include
brown bag seminars, placing the Donate Life Texas logo on
the company’s website and using social media to promote
their workplace efforts, among other activities.
When Dave returned to work, he approached the station’s
general manager, John Kittleman, about producing a series
of public service announcements to inspire Valley residents to
register with Donate Life Texas. Not only did Kittleman agree,
but he asked the station’s news director, Jenny Martinez, to
assist by dedicating an entire week — the start of National
Donor Minority Awareness Month — to organ donation.
The station did features on the region’s first registered
donor, a meeting between a recipient and his donor family,
facts about donation and even Dave’s own transplant story.
KRGV-CHANNEL 5 NEWS also created a page on their web-
site that offers links to Donate Life Texas and other impor-
tant resources.
Their PSAs encouraging the public to “get in the game” and
save lives were expected to be shown from August 2013
until the end of the year. But as 2014 started, the station
maintained its support of Donate Life Texas, and Dave ap-
peared on television regularly to remind people that they
can make a difference as an organ donor.
Because of the station’s willingness to support its employee
in creating awareness for the need of donors in the Rio
Grande Valley, “organ donation” and “Dave Brown” have
become nearly synonymous.
Through these stories and PSAs, KRGV-CHANNEL 5 NEWS
helped Valley residents make an informed decision about
organ donation. To date, as the PSAs continue to air, the
percentage of registered donors is increasing, and lives are
being saved.
To learn how your organization can establish a
Workplace Partnership for Life, call 1-866-685-0277.
Life-saving team players
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A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
Texas Organ Sharing Alliance • www.txorgansharing.org • 512-459-4848 • 1-866-685-0277
Key Points about Organ Donation
There is a severe shortage of organ donors in this country.
As of June 2014, there are more than 122,000 patients on the national waiting list in need of an organ transplant.
12,000 of themare Texans.
More than half of thoseawaiting a transplant in the
U.S. are minorities.
+50%
A new name is added to the United Network forOrgan Sharing waiting list every 13 minutes.
Nearly 7,000 of the patients on the national waiting list died last year (about 19 patients per day)without ever receiving their transplant because there are not enough organs to transplant.
Of the 2.3 million people who die in the U.S. every year, less than two percent are eligibleto be organ donors. Almost everyone, however, can be a tissue donor.
Transplant success rates increase when organs are matched between members of thesame ethnic and racial group. A patient is less likely to reject a kidney if it is donated by an individ-ual who is genetically similar. Therefore, a lack of organs donated by minorities can contribute todeath and longer waiting periods for transplants for minorities.
Register your decision at www.DonateLifeTexas.org and please inform your family of your decision to donate so they can carry out your wishes when the time comes.
The organ allocation system isblind to wealth, celebrity andsocial status. Donated organsare placed in recipients basedon best medical match andmost critical need.
• Few people are too old or too young to donate. • Currently there are no age limits for donors. • At thetime of your death, medical professionals will determine whether your organs are transplantable.• Organs that can be transplanted are the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestine.
There is no major religion in the U.S. that isopposed to organ and tissue donation.
In fact, many religions endorse organ and tissue donation as an act of charity.
*
• Donation does not disfigure the body or prevent an open casket funeral. • Donated organs are removed in a sterile,
surgical procedure, similar to open heart surgery, in a hospital operating room by skilled surgeons. • Organ and tissue
donation is considered only after all efforts to save the patient’s life have been exhausted and death has been legally
declared. • No costs directly related to organ or tissue donation are passed on to the donor’s family or estate.
8PERSON CANSAVE LIVES1
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Following the tragic death of Emilio “Jimmy” Coronado
on his bike, his friends were so moved by his decision to
give life as a registered organ and tissue donor, they all
signed up on the Donate Life Texas website. And as mem-
bers of the local Calaveras Motorcycle Club, they were
eager to honor their friend and brother, along with other
lifesavers, in a tribute ride.
Coronado, known as Low-Low by the club, was South
Texas’ first registered donor. To celebrate his decision, which
resulted in affecting over 70 people, the South Texas Trans-
plant Center joined with Texas Organ Sharing Alliance
(TOSA), the City of McAllen and UT Health Science Center
San Antonio Allograft Resources for a unique memorial to
start Donate Life Month.
Starting at McAllen City Hall for a special presentation
where city officials declared April Donate Life Month and
raised a Donate Life flag in memory of those who gave
life and those who await a transplant, over a dozen mem-
bers of the Calaveras MC Club rode to the South Texas
Transplant Center for a ceremony and flag presentation.
They traveled over a major McAllen intersection with Do-
nate Life flags trailing behind them, blue and green
scarves around their necks or wrapped on their bikes. At
the hospital, the bikers revved their engines as the Donate
Life flag was hoisted in the air for the motorists passing
by to see. The roar of the bikes drew a crowd from the
hospital’s waiting room.
Members of the club say it’s important
to them to celebrate their friend’s gift
to encourage others to do the same and
keep his memory alive.
Coronado’s wife, Bobby, said her husband’s decision to be
a registered donor was no surprise. During his lifetime, he
had forever been a giving and caring person. His act to
save others has encouraged her to advocate for others to
do the same.
“Sign up,” she told the audience at the hospital. “Save a
life and tell your family.”
CelebratingLife with the Calaveras Motorcycle Club
A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
For more information and resources, please call 1-866-685-0277.
12
Baseball fans are greeted by smiling volunteers as they walk
through the gates of the stadium entrance. They are eager
to get to their seats but come by our colorful booth to see
what information we are sharing. It’s Donate Life Texas night
at the ballpark, and we are excited to give vital information
to the guests.
A middle-aged couple walks closer. Volunteers — some di-
rectly impacted by organ donation, outfitted in black,
green and blue “Donate Life” T-shirts — ask the important
question: “Would you like to register to be a life-saving
organ donor?” The husband stops in his tracks and says,
“No, you don’t want any of my organs.” Our volunteer
proudly replies, “You’d be surprised how many lives can
be saved by one person. My life was saved thanks to the
decision of a generous family.” The man glances at his wife
and looks back at the group, saying, “I’m glad for you, but
I want to keep all my organs.” The couple walk off quickly
to find their seats.
It’s a scene that we in the field of organ donation see all too
often. The subject of organ donation can make some peo-
ple feel uneasy. Maybe they don’t want to think about
dying; maybe they believe some of the myths surrounding
donation. Whatever the reason, there are those people who
don’t want to discuss organ donation. For those of us who
understand and have seen the amazing gifts one person can
give to others, we are unnerved by those who won’t give
donation a serious thought.
Our Friends for Life volunteers in Central and South Texas
are 400 strong. They are transplant recipients, donor family
members, patients awaiting transplants and even those who
have lost loved ones on the waiting list. They share their per-
sonal stories and encourage others to register their decision
to donate. They are the faces of donation and transplanta-
tion, and they help us save lives.
The enthusiasm of volunteers continues as more fans enter
the stadium. “Have you registered to be a life-saving organ
donor?” two volunteers ask in unison. A young man smiles
as he hears the question. “No, but I’ve been meaning to,”
he says. “Thanks for being here.” The volunteers thank the
man for taking the time to register as he happily grabs a clip-
board and completes the registration form. “Of course, I
want to be a donor. I don’t need my organs after I’m gone!”
Our thoughts exactly.
A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
For more information and resources, please call 1-866-685-0277.
Play Ball!Volunteerseducate baseball fanson DonateLife Texasnight at theballpark
Victor – KidneyRecipientKidney failure came as a
complete surprise to Victor.Leading up to his transplant,he worked hard to promotethe life-saving message ofdonation through socialmedia. Now a year after re-ceiving the Gift of Life, Vic-tor says he will continue tohonor his donor by promot-ing organ donation.
Yvette – DonorFollowing her death in a tragicmotorcycle accident, Yvette’slegacy continues to grow. Herdouble-lung recipient is aphysician. Dr. Gina DeSantoparticipated in the Ride for theRoses, a 100-mile bike ride inmemory of Yvette. Yvette'sheart recipient helps withyouth programs in the CorpusChristi area. In total, she savedfive lives as an organ donor.
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The Gift of Life
A Special Section from San Antonio Woman
For more information and resources, please call 1-866-685-0277.
Daniel – DonorDaniel’s catchphrase was
“I got your back.” Organdonation is the ultimate“got your back.” As adonor, he saved three lives,and as his family consentedto donate his pancreas forresearch, he will help count-less others in the future.“As a family, we have
treasured organ donation asa means to remember theloving spirit of our son andbrother,” his family says.
Zachary – Small Bowel, Pancreas and Liver RecipientZachary was born with blockages in his small intestine, and while he had several surgeries to re-
move those blocks, he still suffered and went into liver failure. Upon being transferred to a hospitalthat specialized in small bowel/liver transplants, Zachary received his transplant on his 6-month birth-day. Despite minor ups and downs, Zachary is attending school and running around as if he werenever sick. Now as a volunteer, his mom, Carmelita, says, “We are blessed and want to spread theword about the importance and need for organ, tissue and eye donation.”
Ruben – DonorRuben was a 3-year-old boy who was born a fighter. He was smart,loved to sing and gave lots of love to all who surrounded him. "LOVEYOU" were his words to every person he encountered. His familyknew he came to this world to do something amazing, and he savedthree lives. What gives them peace is knowing their angel's heartcontinues to beat.
Shantel – Liver RecipientNine-year-old Shantel was born with a chronic
liver disease, and after waiting for nearly a year, shereceived the Gift of Life from a generous donor fam-ily. There aren't enough words for the family to say"thank you," but Shantel says, "Maybe someday Iwill be able to meet them and thank them myself."
Adam R.Aleasha W.Alma H.Amelia R.Andrew C.Andrew P.Angela E.F.Armando V.Arturo E.Benjamin S.C.Bobby D.Braydin W.Carol L.Chuck T.Colby K.Dale C.Daniel O.Daniel S.Daniella C.Danny G.David C.P.
Denise B.Dennerek P.Dion P.Donn M.Drake M.Duhane W.Edward A.Edward A.Elisa T.Elliott D.Emily L.Esther G.Esther S.Ezequiel N.Frances K.Gary M.Gerardo G.Gilberto T.Grayson C.Guadalupe S.Hayden M.Heriberto F.Isabel C.Jacelyn W.Jacob K.
Jason H.Jeffery N.Jeffrey B.Jenni B.Jesus R.Jimmy C.Joanna N.John A.John S.Johnny O.Joselito Y.Joshua D.Judson W.Justin P.Justin M.Keenan H.Keith D.Krizia K.Kyle F.Lindon W.Linn T.Lisa P.Lorenzo L.Lupe S.Maria H.
Maria H.Maria V.Maria A.C.Maria C.Mark P.Mark T.Marshall L.Martin M.Mason C.Maurico M.Max B.Michael B.Michelle W.Miguel B.Misti C.Mylie F.Nico B.Omar D.O'neill S.Paul P.Rae Lynn P.Richard R.Robby M.Robert C.Rodolfo I.
Roel M.Rogelio V.Rosa J.Ruben G.Sabrina V.Samantha P.Sharon L.Sierrah K.Stephanie H.Stephanie B.Stephen Z.Steve S.Sylvia P.Tadarion L.Talaya R.Teila I.Tracy M.Tyler M.William J.William J.Wyatt G.Yaritza F.Yolanda T.
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NORTHERN REGION7000 North Mopac, Suite 160
Austin, Texas 78731(512) 459.4848 O(512) 459.7794 F
SOUTHERN REGION1400 N. McColl Road, Suite 104A
McAllen, Texas 78501(956) 630-0884 O(956) 687-7185 F
CENTRAL REGION (HEADQUARTERS)8122 Datapoint Drive, Suite 200San Antonio, Texas 78229
(210) 614-7030 O(210) 614-2129 F
DONATE LIFE TEXAS REGISTRYwww.DonateLifeTexas.org www.DoneVidaTexas.org
TOSA Honors our 2013 Gift of Life Donors
Contact TOSA:• for more information about organ donation or the Donate Life Texas registry.
• to request a speaker at your church, workplace, school or civic club.
• to become a volunteer and help raise awareness of organ donation.