Transplant quilt in La Ronge, Saskatchewan

One of my earliest experiences with promoting organ donation was shortly after my lung transplant when I joined a committee to to raise money for the hospital and viewed a beautiful quilt made entirely of squares donated by family members and friends in memory of their loved ones. The quilts are usually a work in progress with no deadline as there will always be other families who want to be included. There are hundreds of examples of quilts but I've selected the following quilt from the Midwest Transplant Network in the U.S. for it's easy to read view of each individual square. click here to view.

By Valerie G. Barnes-Connell The LaRonge Northerner

She was known as “the Butterfly Girl” and she loved yellow roses.

A square on the 20th Anniversary Saskatchewan Transplant Program Donor Memorial Quilt features a butterfly and a yellow rose in memory of Tenille Hounjet. Tenille died Sept. 20, 1999 from injuries sustained in an accident Sept. 19.

In the intervening hours between the accident and her death, with Tenille on life support, her family and friends grappled with a choice and decided to donate Tenille’s organs and tissue to the Saskatchewan Transplant Program, so that out of their tragedy other people were given hope.

Tenille’s mother, Wendy Dice, is sponsoring a tour of the quilt to La Ronge to raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.

The Quilt will be on display at the Conexus Credit Union April 26 and 27 (Monday and Tuesday), at the Jeannie Bird Clinic on April 28 and 29 (Wednesday and Thursday), the Java Shack on April 30 and May 1 (Friday and Saturday) and at the La Ronge Health Centre May 3 and 4 (Monday and Tuesday).

Families of people who donated organs and/or tissue to the Saskatchewan Transplant Program viewed the 20th Anniversary Donor Memorial Quilt during a celebration at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon Oct. 3, 2009.

The 20th Anniversary Donor Memorial Quilt square created in memory of Tenille Hounjet.

A speaker from the Saskatchewan Transplant Program will speak at the La Ronge Health Centre on Tues. May 4 at 7:30 p.m. Members of the public are invited to attend.

The quilt is accompanied by two binders containing tributes to the people whose organs and/or tissue has been donated to the program over the past 10 years.

Mildred Nichol, of the Saskatchewan Transplant Program, spoke with The Northerner about the program.

Although organ transplants have been done in the province since the 1960s, no formalized program was in place.

The Saskatchewan Transplant program was established in July 1989. In 1999 a 10-year anniversary quilt was created and “now we have the 20th Anniversary Quilt.

All families of donors were invited to submit a square for the quilt in memory of their family member. Families could also give permission to the quilt artist to design a square for their family member.

Many people said things like, “oh, she was such a breath of sunshine, could you put a sun on there? It was whatever the family wanted, something of signifi cance to their family member.”

A celebration was held in Saskatoon at St. Paul’s Hospital for family members. The quilt and two books containing a page about each of the donors could be viewed by families. There was also a candlelight service, where families were invited to light a candle and name their family member. The event ended with a memorial lunch.

The family of each donor was presented with a Gift of Life bronze medallion, which was embossed with a wheat sheaf and ribbon.

“The green ribbon is for organ and/or tissue donation awareness.” The Quilt has been on the road most of the time since Oct. 3.

“Someone took the quilt home that day (Oct. 3) so they could have it in their local community.” The binder contains a picture of the quilt square, a picture and a biography of each donor.

“The whole point of this is to honour the donors and their families and, of course, to promote organ and/or tissue donations so that other families will make that decision when their family member dies.”

Organs, which can be donated, include: heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas and small bowel.

Tissues include cornea, bone, tendons, ligaments and the heart for valves.

The cornea is the outer, clear part of the lining of the eye. “Sometimes people have eye disease that affects the cornea. Then they can receive sight from a tissue donation. Sometimes we can’t use the whole heart for a transplant, but we might still be able to use the valves for valve replacement. That’s especially important for children because if you use human valve tissue, then children don’t have to be on blood thinners.”

Dice said it’s important to talk to family members and make them aware of the importance of organ donation and to discuss choices with family members.

“When you are in that position and somebody is pronounced brain dead, it’s a test of faith, because how do you know – doctors make mistakes and you want to hope.”

She also voiced concern for people in the north. “I didn’t realize … so many people up here are just waiting. They have to travel for dialysis.”

Information from the Saskatchewan Transplant Program shows 435 people in Saskatchewan are living a kidney transplant, 22 people in Saskatchewan received a kidney transplant in 2009 and 109 are waiting for a kidney transplant in Saskatchewan. Ten other transplants were done on Saskatchewan residents in 2009.

Dice also wants to warn people about the importance of wearing, and ensuring children are wearing seat belts while travelling in vehicles.

“So many people let their kids lie down and they shouldn’t do that. Tenille took her seat belt off to sleep and didn’t live to tell about it.”

She also reminds people to stop and rest rather than driving tired.

Saskatchewan residents, 18-years and older, can attach an organ and tissue donor sticker to their Saskatchewan Health Card . Anyone under 18 requires the consult of an adult to consent to be eligible as an organ and/or tissue donor.

“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 up 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.

Quilt squares honor, remember organ donors

One of the seven Iowa Donor Quilt of Memories was on display at the Well Aware Health Fair in Le Mars Oct. 22. The quilt squares honor those who with their death gave life to others in the form of organ donation.

By Beverly Van Buskirk Le Mars Daily Sentinel

Individual squares on the patchwork quilt tell a story of unselfish love and caring for people.

Those are the squares that make up the "Quilt of Memories," often called an Iowa Donor Network (IDN) quilt, and it remembers the lives of those who died but through organ donations live on in others.

One of the first quilts carries a square honoring a Le Mars man, the late Dale Kessenich.

His wife, now Dorothy Ruhland, said she wanted to remember her husband in a special way and wrote words to honor Dale and his gift of organ donation to incorporate into the quilt square.

"Dale was so healthy and he died so suddenly," Ruhland said. "It was such a shock," she continued as she recalled the day she came home and found her husband.

It was June 29, 1999. He had just turned 65.

She still remembers being in the emergency room at Floyd Valley Hospital, where she worked as a housekeeping/laundry supervisor, and being asked if she would be willing to have Dale be an organ donor.

"I know the nurse hated to ask me," she said, "but I didn't hesitate. I said yes." She also remembers hospital administrator Mike Donlin standing with her through the process.

For Ruhland, however, the decision came easy.

"Dale's sister had to have two kidney transplants, the first in 1979 and then in 1980," Ruhland explained. Both kidneys came from donors who had died. "She's still living today because of those organ donors," Ruhland said.

With her family around her, Ruhland made the decision for the organ donation. Because of the suddenness of his death, Dale's internal organs could not be used. Instead skin, bones and ligaments were taken.

Ruhland later wrote about the donation.

"I was told his gift of bone and connective tissue will help with various orthopaedic and neurosurgical conditions. The tissue will be used in back, join, and leg surgeries such as hip replacement and knee reconstruction. The skin would be used in reconstructive surgery," she wrote.

She also found out that one recipient was an 8-year-old child.

"That really gave me a sense of peace," Ruhland said. "Dale loved kids."

The quilt with Dale's square was displayed at Floyd Valley Hospital in May 2001.

"It was so natural for me to say yes to the donation," said Ruhland, "and to say yes when I found out about the donor quilt."

She receives a newsletter, "For Those Who Give & Grieve," which shares information with those who have given permission for organ donation from a loved one.

"You know you're not alone," she said as she looked through the newsletter.

According to Julie Stearn, who coordinates the quilt blocks for the Iowa Donor Network, the first quilt was constructed in 2000, as a joint effort between the IDN and the Iowa Lions Eye Bank.

Later the two groups split, each making their own quilts, with the IDN focusing on those who are organ and tissue donors.

"We still maintain contact with families who have squares on that first quilt and each one since," said Stearn.

The quilts are on-going project.

"There are no deadlines," Stearn said. "We let families know that we are doing the quilts and give them the opportunity to submit a square if they so desire."

"We have a donor mom, Robin, who puts the quilts together for us. Her daughter, Sarah, was a donor in 2002," Stearn explained.

"Once we get a completed quilt, anywhere from 20 to 30 patches, we display it around the state, at public awareness events where we talk about organ donations," she said.

It was at the Well Aware Health Fair in Le Mars Oct. 22 that one of the quilts was displayed.

"We currently have six quilts completed and are working on a seventh one," Stearn said.

"It's a way to commemorate a loved one," she continued. "A picture is worth a thousand words. This allows families to tell their loved one's story through a quilt square."

The IDN only deals with deceased donors.

"We do recoveries from newborns through adults," Stearn said. The age limit for donors is now past the age of 80. "The age limit keeps changing," she said.

The IDN has used the quilts to promote awareness of organ donation in the state.

The IDN is as a non-profit organization that operates as the primary contact for organ, tissue and eye donation services for Iowa. Staff works with more than 100 hospitals across the state. An IDN donation coordinator managers the identification, evaluation and medical maintenance of organ and/or tissue donors, including assisting and/or performing the surgical recovery of organs and tissues, and coordinating the placement and transportation of recovered organs.

the IDN was incorporated in 1994, but the work of organ procurement for transplants dates well before then.

Now the Quilt of Memories pays tribute to loved ones and also serves as a beautiful display for public promotion of the importance of organ and tissue donation.

Ruhland said she knows more of her family members have made the decision to be organ donors.

"My five brothers have signed up to be organ donors," she said.

For Ruhland, who lives in Le Mars with her current husband, Larry, the knowledge that the donation helped so many gives her a sense of peace.

A medallion sent to the family honoring Dale as an organ donor, is now permanently attached to his headstone in the cemetery.

"Now anyone can see and know he was an organ donor," Ruhland said.

And that gives her a sense of peace.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
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

Your generosity can save up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants. One tissue donor can help up to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves