GTR Newspapers - Debbie Richards desperately needs a liver transplant but faces significant expenses. Community members can help with the costs by eating out May 14 and 21.
Richards, 55, was diagnosed with a life-threatening liver disease in 2003. Last year, she also was diagnosed with liver cancer, and doctors say a liver transplant is critical to her survival. She was added to the transplant waiting list in 2009.
A liver transplant costs approximately $500,000. Richards will lose her health coverage in 2011, and she faces significant medical expenses. For the rest of her life, she will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications. The medications can cost as much as $5,000 per month, and they are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.
Because of her declining health, she was released from her job, adding to her financial strain. When she receives her transplant, she will have to relocate more than 100 miles from her home in Tulsa for at least three months to be closer to the transplant center during recovery.
To overcome these financial challenges, Richards turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps transplant patients raise funds to pay for medical expenses.
On Friday, May 14 and Friday, May 21, Rib Crib, 3022 S. Garnett will donate 10 percent of sales to help with Richards’ expenses. Diners must mention Richards to their server to ensure their meals are included. For more information, please contact Stacy Richards at tsdj2005h@aol.com or 918-829-3807.
To make donations in honor of Richards, please visit http://www.transplants.org/ and click on “patients we help” to search for her. If you prefer to mail your contribution, please send your gift to the NFT Oklahoma Liver Fund, 5350 Poplar Avenue, Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Be sure to write “in honor of Debbie Richards” in the subject line.
NFT is a nonprofit 501©(3) organization based in Memphis, Tenn. that has been helping transplant patients overcome financial obstacles since 1983. NFT provides fundraising expertise and advocacy to transplant patients by organizing fundraising campaigns in the patients’ own communities. In the past 27 years, NFT’s fundraising campaigns have generated more than $56 million to assist patients.
For more information about NFT, please call 800-489-3863 or visit http://www.transplants.org/
“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network. NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help 75 to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves
Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You
No comments:
Post a Comment