613 Organizations Assisting Haitians in Earthquake Relief Efforts

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reports that a total of 613 organizations and institutions are working alongside the local Haitian population in the relief efforts in Haiti and I'm sure all are doing their best to provide whatever aid they can.

However, with so many organizations asking for donations of money and volunteer services it's difficult to choose which to support. I've decided to give my full support and promote the efforts of the following organizations that are doing a tremendous job of extending help and hope to the victims of this horrendous calamity in Haiti.

The Salvation Army

Read about how the Salvation Army is extending aid to Haiti's coastal communities such as offering support and assistance to the approximately 20,000 displaced families taking shelter near their compund in Port-au-Prince. Their relief team, working with the US Army 82nd Airborne, delivered more than 174,000 meals to the coastal community of Petit Goave (Little Gulf). You will also read about their efforts to help the thousands of children with feeding programs and other assistance. These are just examples of the many ways the Salvation Army is working to save lives and improve living conditions.

International Medical Corps

Their Emergency Response Teams are working around the clock to save lives in Haiti and to help the Haitian people lay the groundwork for long-term recovery.

In the past few days, the Emergency Response Team has opened up 8 mobile clinics - 2 in Petit-Goâve and 1 each in Petionville, Boloise, Jacmel, Gressier, St. Luces and Carrefour. Each team is seeing anywhere from 40 to 120 patients a day. The emergency medical team is working at the Hospital De'l Universite d'etat d'Haiti, a 700-bed hospital that is barely functioning. They established an emergency surgery facility in conjunction with other NGOs where 30 to 50 surgeries are performed each day.

Doctors and nurses looking to volunteer, please click here

“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. 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.

Medical marijuana patients denied organ transplants

If you use medical marijuana and need an organ transplant you have a good chance of being denied the life-saving operation, according to an article in the Huffington Post. It notes that in the now fourteen states that allow legal medicinal use of cannabis, a registered patient in need of a life-saving organ transplant will be disqualified for "abuse of illicit substances."

The article describes how several patients who were prescribed medical marijuana by their physicians died after being denied organ transplants by both hospitals and insurance companies.

Read the article at: The Huffington Post.

“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. 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.

Danish Organ donations reach record high

Transplants between family members boost donation figures but high demand for kidney transplants remains

The Copenhagen Post

Patient and doctor groups have welcomed the news that organ donations reached a record high last year, with 327 people receiving transplants.

New figures for organ transplants in Nordic countries show that Danish donations are steadily increasing, up from 276 in 2007 and 278 in 2008.

Denmark still lags behind other Nordic countries but the increasing number of donors has been welcomed by the Danish Transplantation Group. Chairman Jan Rishave said he hoped it would continue in the future.

The Danish Centre for Organ Donation coordinates transplant efforts nationwide and almost 700 doctors and nurses undertook training courses at the centre last year.

Centre manager Helle Haubro Andersen told Kristeligt Dagbladet newspaper that the efforts by hospitals were helping to increase awareness of the issue.

‘I think many are gradually of the opinion that when we can’t save the person lying in the bed, there are five others we could save,’ Andersen said.

Kidneys are by far the most required of all organs. Of the 577 Danish patients on the transplant waiting list at the end of October last year, 480 were in need of a kidney.

And kidney transplants have also increase dramatically in recent years, largely due to the number of live donations between family members. The average number of kidney transplants remained between 160 and 190 annually for many years, until it spiked at 231 last year.

Public awareness campaigns have also been effective in recent years with the number of people signing up to the national donor register almost reaching 607,000. The register keeps track of people who want to donate organs, those who want their family to take the decision and those who do not want to donate. About 85 percent of those currently on the register have said yes to organ donation.

“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. 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.

2009 the year of the decade for organ donation in Ontario

Last year, nearly 700 lives were saved in Ontario, Canada because of a record number of organ donations thanks to an eight-year legacy of hard work by Trillium Gift of Life Network. I've been working with Trillium Gift of Life as a volunteer since my lung transplant in 2002 and it's wonderful to see progress in our efforts to increase organ and tissue donation. Once on-line registration is implemented in Ontario there will be a huge increase in organ donors registering but until that time Ontario can be proud of the success it's had so far.

"2009 was a record-breaking year," says Frank Markel, President and CEO of the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN). "It was the culmination of sound planning, many years of solid progress through hard work, and the generous support of the provincial government."

In the two short years since the Organ Donation Strategy was announced by the Ontario government TGLN has implemented many of the strategy's recommendations, including improvements to donor registration, launch of multi-faith and youth outreach campaigns, and implementation of clinical best practices to drive donation performance and changes to consent to tissue donation. And that unified effort has paid off in spades.

"Not only did Ontario achieve a record 218 organ donations, but we have decreased the number of deaths of people on the organ transplant wait list by nearly 24 per cent," says Markel.

"The gifts given by those 218 generous deceased organ donors and their families allowed TGLN to coordinate a total of 691 life-saving organ transplants over the course of the year, a 17 per cent increase over 2008," he adds.

“To the people who are on waiting lists: Have hope,” he said. “Historically, the Greater Toronto Area has not been the strongest supporter of organ donations but, in 2009, the hospitals in the GTA reversed that trend.”

The number of tissue donations over the past 12 months was unprecedented, with 1,299 tissue donors in 2009, a rise of 24 per cent from the previous year. Tissue donors provided bone grafts, heart valves, and skin for life-enhancing transplants, as well as 1,616 eyes for transplants to restore vision. Just one tissue donor can help up to 75 people through tissue donation.

"The work of the Trillium Gift of Life Network and everyone involved in organ and tissue donation in Ontario is making unbelievable differences in the lives of Ontarians and their families," says Deb Matthews, Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. "Thank you all for your hard work and continued dedication to such an important cause."

She encouraged everyone to reach into their wallets and pull out their Ontario health cards.

“You should all have on your health card that you’re a donor,” she said. “Have a party and get people to sign up. I’m absolutely optimistic and there truly is no greater gift than the gift of life.

“The 84 who died and 1,600 waiting is just too many,” Matthews said.

Markel also credits TGLN's multiple partners for the success of 2009. "The remarkable increase in the number of organ and tissue donations for transplant is only possible through dedicated cooperation from tissue banks and our healthcare partners, both at the 21 major donation hospitals and the transplant centres within the province," he says.

"Between 1999 and 2008, the average annual increase in deceased donors in Ontario nearly doubled that in the rest of the country," states Dr. John Gill, President of the Canadian Organ Replacement Register Board of Directors. "The 2009 numbers further demonstrate what can be achieved in Canada, and should be a model to drive improvement in deceased organ donation nationally."

"Success in organ and tissue donation takes an incredible team effort, and at Sunnybrook we are fortunate to have staff, physicians and leaders throughout the organization who are committed to this life-saving cause," says Dr. Barry McLellan, President and CEO, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, which lead hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area in performance improvements. "As well as our own staff, we are thankful for the partnership we have with the Trillium Gift of Life Network. Our continued collaboration and dedication to this program will save and improve countless lives across Ontario."

"I am thankful for the generosity of our donor families at a time of great distress and grateful for the support, focus and compassion of our partners," says Rabbi Reuven Bulka, of Ottawa, the Board Chair of TGLN. "And the Government of Ontario has been a tremendous ally. The astonishing success we've built to in the last decade could not have been possible without all of this assistance."

Despite the banner year and positive steps forward, more still needs to be done. Today, approximately 1,600 people in Ontario are waiting for a life-saving transplant. More lives could be saved if more people registered their decision to donate.

As of June 30, 2009, 17 per cent of eligible Ontarians over the age of 16 had registered their donation consent decision, a five per cent increase since November 30, 2008.

You can register your consent to donate your organs and tissue by visiting your local ServiceOntario Health Card Services - OHIP office or outreach centre where you renew your health card. You can also register by downloading and filling out a Gift of Life Consent Form from http://www.giftoflife.on.ca and mailing it to the address on the form.

Even if you've already signed your donor card, please also register your decision so that this information is accessible at the time of your death and talk to your family about your decision.

For more details on Trillium Gift of Life Network, please visit http://www.giftoflife.on.ca. You can also call 416-363-4001 or toll free 1-800-263-2833.

Trillium Gift of Life Network is a not-for-profit agency of the Government of Ontario and is responsible for planning, promoting, coordinating and supporting organ and tissue donation across Ontario and improving the system so that more lives can be saved.

“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. 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.

Organ donation packs handed out in secondary schools

This campaign targeted at secondary school students reminds me of a similar initiative in Ontario, Canada called Recycleme.org. The Canadian campaign launched by Trillium Gift of Life Network in Ontario has been very successful in reaching out to young people and hopefully we will see similar programs elsewhere.

Secondary schools in Scotland are to be offered education packs on organ donation

Secondary schools in Scotland are to be offered education packs on organ donation featuring real life stories from those in need of a transplant.

BBC News

The Scottish government said the scheme was aimed at raising awareness about the issue among the younger generation.

The pack, which covers science and ethics, will be used as a teaching aid.

Almost 800 people are waiting for an organ transplant in Scotland while a third of Scots have joined the NHS Donor Register.

Donor transplant coordinators will visit more than 60 schools to present the pack, originally published in 2002, and host question and answer sessions with pupils.

Launching the redesigned pack at Clydebank High School, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said that while no-one wanted to think about their own death, it was important young people learn about the realities of organ donation.

Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of the British Medical Association in Scotland, which has campaigned for a system of presumed consent for organ donations, welcomed the school packs.

He added: "The BMA has actively supported efforts to improve transplantation rates. But despite many high profile campaigns to generate an increase in the number of donors, there has been limited success.

"Between April 2004 and March 2005, 52 Scots died while they were waiting for an organ transplant, others will have died without even reaching the waiting list.

"Meanwhile, repeated studies show that over 90% of the population supports organ donation, yet only a third have signed up to the organ donor register."

University student: Donating organs is vital

It's great to see that university students are getting involved in promoting organ donation. This insightful perspective by a University of Pittsburgh student is very enlightening. It's now easier than ever to become an organ and tissue donor as more and more jurisdictions make it a simple task by just going on line and registering. See the links following this article.

By Ragini Grace Gupta / For The Pitt News

Every single person on this campus has the means to impact countless lives. There are currently more than 96,000 people waiting for an organ transplant in the US, according to The International Association for Organ Donation. Each day an average of 17 people die while waiting for an organ donation, and in the past 15 years the number of people on the list has grown by more than 200 percent in America, according to the Lourdes Health System. As medical science advances and new transplants become possible, hope for those waiting hangs solely on the generosity of organ donors.

When I first learned that organs could be given and taken, I was very young. Our housekeeper’s husband needed a kidney. My mom would ask her every week, “Did you find a donor?” and her reply was always, “Still waiting.”

The thought was scary — I doubt I even knew what a kidney was or what it did. Sometimes, the lack of knowledge hinders any chance of forming a connection with something. However, even though we might not be aware of something, it doesn’t mean it has no effect on us.

Originally, organ donation was something I always cringed at because, through my naivety, all I knew was that I was made of “guts.” In high school, I was reacquainted with organ donation at Girls State (an American Legion Auxiliary program for high school juniors in which participants simulate political contests), when a delegate presented a bill on organ donation awareness. The counselors loved the idea so much they gave each girl a handout on becoming an organ donor. At 16 I still thought the idea of organ donation was frightening. The thought of dying and having my organs put into other people was terrifying. Young people don’t think about mortality because, as we would like to believe, we “have our whole lives ahead of us.”

But death is something that we should not think of as so foreign. Everybody has been exposed to death directly or indirectly. Most of us have had family, friends or pets die. We have lamented over our favorite movie characters’ deaths and seen tragic stories about accidents and homicides.

While it is certainly not my intention to preoccupy you with the inevitability of death, I do want you to think about life. How can a person’s life change by receiving an organ? At first, I didn’t like the idea of organ donation because it reminded me of pain, illness and being no more. Then I saw the other side of it — a close family friend was in desperate need of a kidney and he received one from a total stranger. There are many people waiting on the organ transplant list and it is quite possible that you knew, know or will know somebody on that list. The people who suffer because they need healthy organs or tissues are siblings, parents or friends. Thinking about organ donation in a more personal way made it less scary and allowed me to open up more to the idea.

What’s the rush to become an organ donor? I don’t plan on dying any time soon. After coming to college and living by myself, however, I am more aware of all the ways a person could die just doing everyday things. Deaths caused by common things like being in an automobile, getting the flu or an infection are in the top 15 causes of death in the United States.

In the subset of accidents, the most common way to die is as a pedestrian. As students, we spend a lot of time walking on roads and being near cars. Slipping and hitting your head, alcohol poisoning, accidental drug overdose — there are plenty of ways that normal people doing normal things can die. Life is unpredictable — no one knows how long she will live, so we should not wait to become an organ donor, or to do anything for that matter. We may not have our whole lives to do it.

With this perspective, organ donation was no longer a subject to cringe about, but rather it is a reminder to take responsibility for a social issue.

You can become an organ donor by going to organdonor.gov and filling out an organ donor card and keeping it in your wallet. It is also very important to talk to your family about your decision, because you are their responsibility after your death..

E-mail Ragini at rgg6@pitt.edu and visit http://www.organdonor.gov to learn more.

“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. 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.

Haitians still dying of injuries due to lack of medical care

10,000 people a day are being buried using earthmovers. Clinics have a 12 day waiting list. An estimated 100,000 to 250,000 injured survivors need surgery that most will never get. Please help International Medical Corps in their efforts to deal with this medical tragedy.

I've decided to keep this article as my blog's top post through the weekend. According to the World Health Organization in a release Wednesday, surgical care is Haiti's most urgent medical need. Emergency surgery, treatment of wounds, and tetanus prevention present an "overwhelming" need, WHO stated.

I'm pleased to post this request from International Medical Corps who need help in a big way to deal with the horrendous workload they face in Haiti. 80% of patients need surgery. It broke my heart as I listened to the news this week about the close to 50 amputations that had to be performed over the last couple of days at just one makeshift operating room because patients did not get medical attention soon enough to prevent gangrene from setting in. I'm not sure which medical team or teams performed these amputations but every second counts as crushed arms and legs fester and disease spreads throughout the makeshift tents.

Donating $10 to help the people of Haiti is as simple as sending a text message of the word "haiti" to 85944.

Click here to donate other than texting - urgent action is needed - Doctors and nurses who wish to volunteer please Click here - thanks.

Here's the urgent memo I received Wednesday:

"Dear Merv

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization, founded by volunteer doctors and nurses and dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through relief and development programs. Our emergency response team is in Haiti responding in force and I would like to ask for your help to get the word out to the readers of Merv Sheppard's Transplant Network. There are still thousands of patients seeking treatment of which approximately 80% are in need of surgery and are running out of time - especially with the tremendous aftershocks still devastating this country. The team is treating crush injuries, trauma, substantial wound care, shock and other critical cases with the few available supplies - And they're in it for the long haul. I would love your help spreading the word by blogging or tweeting about IMC's rescue efforts. We've put up a blogger friendly widget here on our site:

http://www.imcworldwide.org/haiti
(click here to donate - urgent action is needed - doctors and nurses who wish to volunteer please visit this site - thanks) Note: This site is updated daily with news of ongoing activities of International Medical Corps in Haiti. Merv.

With the widget it's really easy to let your readers know that donating $10 to help the people of Haiti is as simple as sending a text message of the word "haiti" to 85944. If you have any questions just let me know and I will do my best to help you out. If you are able to post the widget or tweet, I would appreciate it if you could send me the link.

Thanks so much,

Ellie

--
Ellie Brown
International Medical Corps"

“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. 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.

ONELEGACY HELPED TO SAVE AND HEAL MORE THAN 100,000 LIVES IN 2009

Congratulations to OneLegacy of California for their outstanding achievement in organ and tissue donation and transplantation in 2009. What is really impressive is the state donor registry having enrolled more than six million registered donors since opening in 2005 with 30,000 joining each week.

Leads Nation with 1,182 Recovered Organs Transplanted from 382 Donors; Nearly 2,400 Organ and Tissue Donors Benefit 100,000

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Jan. 19, 2010 – OneLegacy, the non-profit, federally designated organ and tissue recovery organization serving the seven-county greater Los Angeles area, announced the recovery of nearly 2,400 combined organ and tissue donors in 2009 which helped to save and heal more than 100,000 lives in Southern California and other U.S. regions.

Working in concert with more than 200 hospital partners, OneLegacy coordinated the recovery of 1,182 transplanted organs from 382 donors in 2009. OneLegacy also achieved its highest-ever organ donation consent rate of 69 percent, up two points from last year and 12 points from 2005.

“Less than 10 years ago, only half of families approached in hospitals gave consent for donation. Now, a full two-thirds of the families elect donation when given the chance to do so,” said Tom Mone, CEO and executive vice president at OneLegacy. “This upward trend is especially important given that we have been experiencing a downward trend in the number of possible donors. That makes every donation opportunity even more important – and every ‘yes’ that much more precious.”

Registered donors and families continued to support tissue donation in 2009, with a record 2,014 donors offering skin used for burn dressings, bone to repair fractures and to prevent amputation, heart valves to repair life-threatening defects, tendons to repair major knee injuries, veins for cardiac bypass surgery, and corneas to end blindness. More than 1,000 donors of corneas gave sight to 1,381 people in need.

“Most tissue recovered by OneLegacy returns to our area for medical procedures,” said Mone. “Given that corneas, bone and skin from a single donor can save and heal up to 50 people, we are proud to contribute to the wellness of so many in our diverse communities.”

Notably, through the first three quarters of 2009, approximately one in seven organ and tissue donors recovered by OneLegacy were registered donors who had signed up with the Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry prior to death. The state donor registry, which is co-managed by OneLegacy and the state’s three other organ recovery agencies, has enrolled more than six million registered donors since opening in 2005, with 30,000 joining each week.

“Thanks to the generosity of donors and their families, and the skill of healthcare professionals, waiting lists for all organs except kidneys are static or declining, while tissue donation is meeting our community’s needs,” said Mone. “However, the need for donated organs and tissues is ongoing, and we will continue to ensure that donor families and transplant recipients, their families and our community as a whole, benefit from the gift of organ, eye and tissue donation.”

OneLegacy is the non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation in the seven-county greater Los Angeles area. With more than 200 hospitals, 12 transplant centers and a diverse population of 19 million, OneLegacy is the largest organ and tissue recovery organization in the world.

Those wishing to make the commitment to donate may register online at http://www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or its Spanish-language counterpart, http://www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org. For more information, call OneLegacy at (800) 786-4077 or visit http://www.onelegacy.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. 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.

Dip in cold ocean raises funds for multi-organ transplant

Ocean dip raises funds for mom in need

By Abbie Hackett Seacoastonline.com (New Hampshire)

Shepard is quick to acknowledge the support she has received. "It's an amazing company (Home Depot) to work for, with amazing people," she said, lifting her glasses to dab at her eyes with a tissue. "What do I do now?" she wondered aloud.

RYE — Seven people in bathing suits formed a line and sprinted into the icy Atlantic just as the sun grazed the top of the water at Wallis Sands on Sunday morning.

Spectators on the beach erupted in a chorus of hoots and hollers as they watched the sprinters completely submerge in an act of support and solidarity from Home Depot employees, called the "Homer Plunge."

Six of the seven swimmers are Home Depot managers who raised the most money in a company fund-raiser to benefit Sue Shepard, an associate whose 29-year-old daughter, Sonya Fanjoy, is awaiting several organ transplants. The plungers also included the daughter of one of the managers.

Thanks to the competition and Home Depot's pledge to donate two times what the managers raised in the spare-change contest, Shepard should have $4,500 of the $6,000 she expects to need in order to be with her daughter in Florida when she receives the transplants.

It's difficult for Shepard to know when the transplants will be able to take place, and she is constantly waiting for the call on her cell phone.

"I don't know how to appropriately say thank you for this," Shepard said as the group shrugged off towels in the 24-degree air and splashed into the surf.

The swimmers and Shepard were part of the crowd of 36 Home Depot employees, family members and friends who started to trickle onto the sand at 6:45 a.m., just as an orange sunrise began to smudge the horizon. Pretty soon orange — Home Depot's signature color — was everywhere: orange pompoms, silly string, glow sticks, hats and T-shirts peeking out from under jackets.

Store manager Nick LaPointe purposefully strode toward the water in sandals and a hooded sweatshirt, a tartan kilt covering his swim shorts.

He took no precautionary measures to protect his skin against the freezing water, calling that "cheating."

"This is Home Depot. We don't have to pull teeth to get people to come out to do this," LaPointe said. "We take care of our own and we had an associate in need."

Manager Eric Brenner pointed out how his daughter, Katrina, 24, rode a bus from Brooklyn, N.Y., to jump in the water at her dad's side. "She's here to support the cause, support me, and to get wet," Brenner said, adding his first winter plunge "was worth it for the money Sue will receive from this."

Katrina described the experience of swimming in the icy ocean.

"Ooh, I feel all tingly; it's like pins and needles on my whole body," Katrina exclaimed, shuffling up the beach, a blanket wrapped tightly around her.

LaPointe and the Brenners were joined in the water by Brandon Hardy, Jon Davis, Kelly Martin, and Allison Braman. Kristen Belanger, head cashier and Homer Plunge coordinator, teased Hardy good-naturedly, asking if he wanted a glow stick before jumping into the dark water to make sure he could be found. Davis welcomed a steaming cup of coffee and eschewed a towel upon emerging from the water.

Hardy admitted he was "nervous" before running into the water, but also called the anticipation "exciting."

"It's for a good cause and for teamwork," he said.

Terry Travers was disappointed he wasn't able to swim with his peers. A merchandising manager, he earned a spot among the top fund-raisers qualifying him to be part of the plunge, but was recently advised not to swim for medical reasons.

"They came up with this swimming idea and I was all for it," Travers said, orange pompoms tucked into the back pockets of his jeans.

Shepard is quick to acknowledge the support she has received. "It's an amazing company to work for, with amazing people," she said, lifting her glasses to dab at her eyes with a tissue. "What do I do now?" she wondered aloud.

"Go home and go to bed!" Belanger laughed.

“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. 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.

Windpipe transplant renews Belgian's life

This bodes very well for the future as the prospect of using tissue regeneration techniques to grow new organs or parts of organs becomes closer to reality. What really gets my attention is the prospect of someday not having to take anti-rejection drugs.

'Life before my transplant was becoming less livable all the time, with continual pain, and jabbing, and pricking in my throat and windpipe,' Linda De Croock says. (Courtesy Linda De Croock via Dr. Pierre Delaere/Associated Press)

CBC News

A Belgian woman has a working windpipe after surgeons implanted the trachea from a dead man into her arm, where it grew new blood vessels before being transplanted into her throat.

For more than 2½ years, Linda De Croock lived with constant pain from a car accident that smashed her windpipe.

The way doctors trained her body to accept donor tissue could yield new methods of growing or nurturing organs within patients, experts say.

The technique sounds like science fiction, but De Croock says it has transformed her life. She no longer takes anti-rejection drugs.

"Life before my transplant was becoming less livable all the time, with continual pain, and jabbing, and pricking in my throat and windpipe," the 54-year-old Belgian in a telephone interview.

Doctors at Belgium's University Hospital Leuven implanted the donor windpipe in De Croock's arm as a first step in getting her body to accept the organ and restart its blood supply.

About 10 months later, when enough tissue had grown around it to let her stop taking the drugs, the windpipe was transferred to its proper place. Details of the case are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

"This is a major step forward for trachea transplantation," said Dr. Pierre Delaere, the surgeon who led the team that treated De Croock.

For years, De Croock lived with the pain and discomfort of having two metal stents propping open her windpipe. She went looking for doctors who might be able to help her and found Delaere on the internet.

"I had always wondered, 'So many things are possible, why not a new windpipe?"' De Croock said.

Delaere and his colleagues, who had performed similar procedures on a smaller scale for cancer patients, agreed. Once the doctors had a suitable donor windpipe, they wrapped it in De Croock's own tissue and implanted it into her lower left arm. There, they connected it to a large artery to re-establish the blood flow.

De Croock said having a windpipe in her arm felt strange and uncomfortable. "It was packed in with gauze and my whole arm was in plaster," she said. "So it's not like [I could] peel potatoes."

Bodies as bioreactors

For about eight months, she took drugs to stop her immune system from rejecting the new organ. Though some of the tissue from the windpipe's male donor remains, enough of De Croock's own tissue now lines the organ that she no longer needs anti-rejection medicines.

Patrick Warnke, a tissue-engineering expert at Bond University in Australia not linked to De Croock's case, said it was the first time a donor organ as large as the trachea was nurtured inside the recipient's own body before being transplanted.

"This shows us that we may one day be able to use patients' own bodies as bioreactors to grow their own tissue," he said.

Warnke thought it might be possible to grow parts of organs, like a lung lobe, within patients themselves in the future. Warnke said he has grown parts of a jaw using muscle in a patient's back.

Last year, European doctors announced they had lined a donor windpipe with tissue grown from their patient's stem cells, thus eliminating the use for immune-suppressing drugs. Only a few windpipe transplants have been performed.

'My life has completely changed'

Since operating on De Croock, Delaere and colleagues performed a similar transplant on an 18-year-old man, and two other patients are being prepared for the treatment.

Dr. Eric Genden of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, who has also performed a windpipe transplant, said the Belgian approach was "intellectually interesting," but would probably not revolutionize how doctors treat patients. He said the technique was too complex and labour-intensive to be easily replicated by other doctors.

For De Croock, the surgery has had a huge impact.

"Now I'm very happy. I realize how my life has completely changed," she said. "I can actually do what I want."

Every six months, she has a scan to check her new windpipe, but doesn't have to take any medicines or treatment. Still, doctors are wary of De Croock exerting too much pressure on the windpipe, and she has some limitations when she exercises.

"Her voice is excellent and her breathing is normal," Delaere said. "I don't think she could run a marathon, but she is doing well."

“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. 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.

4x4 motorist tows snow-stricken ambulance carrying kidney transplant patient to hospital - and then goes back to collect new organs

4x4 hero: Vaughan Crequer tows the ambulance carrying the kidney transplant patient to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath

By Daily Mail reporter, UK

A kidney transplant patient stranded in the snow was saved when a passing 4x4 motorist towed her ambulance to hospital.

But there was still a problem - the patient's new organs were in another ambulance also stuck in the blizzard.

Quick-thinking motorist Vaughan Crequer, 56, rushed back to the scene in his Nissan 4x4 and spotted the second emergency vehicle.

He towed the ambulance with the organs to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath in time for the operation.

Mr Crequer said he had helped rescue dozens of stranded motorists around his home in Crawley, West Sussex, since the cold spell struck.

He was helping one driver when he came across the ambulance stuck on the hill with its blue lights flashing.

'It was on the wrong side of the road and there were lots of people from other cars trying to push it,' Mr Crequer said.

'I spoke to the driver and he said it needed to get to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath so I said I'd help them.'

Mr Crequer said he first drove ahead to make sure the roads were passable before returning to tow the ambulance the last few miles to the hospital.

'Although they were very grateful, they said the operation may still not be able to go ahead as they didn't have the kidney,' he said.

'So I thought I might as well have a look for the ambulance that [the the organs were] in.'

Mr Crequer, who runs a car repair firm, said he soon came across another ambulance stranded in the snow with its blue lights flashing and towed it to the hospital as well.

He added: 'The whole thing started at about midnight and I was back home at 5am. I could only drive at about 15 miles an hour as the snow was so deep.

'I saw some snow ploughs but the snow was coming down so heavily it was covering everything up again as soon as they'd been.'

A South East Coast Ambulance spokesman said: 'We are very grateful to everyone who helped us in what were exceptional weather conditions.'

More photos

“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. 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.

Tragic End For Transplant Campaigner Jessica

I was very sorry to hear that Jessica died before receiving her transplant. Last October I did a post about Jess and the stars who turned out to perform for a fundraising benefit. At the time her lung capacity was only 11 percent but she continued to have hope and remain positive. My condolences go to Jessica and her friends and family.

Transplant campaigner Jessica Wales. Picture: Live Life Then Give Live

Mark Langford, Sky News Online

A woman whose campaign for awareness during a four-year wait for a double lung transplant won the support of celebrities has died.

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Jessica Wales died in hospital, aged 20, just weeks after a suitable donor was found.

Jessica, of Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, initially impressed doctors with her progress but her condition steadily deteriorated and she was eventually sedated and placed on a ventilator.

The battle to find a donor drew support from celebrities, including singer Natalie Imbruglia and comic Ed Byrne who performed at a gig last October called Save Jess-tival

Other stars who backed the campaign on Twitter included Prime Minister's wife Sarah Brown, singer Beverley Knight, Jonathan Ross and Rubens Barrichello.
Ms Wales defied doctors' expectations after being given just two years to live in 2005 when she was listed for a donor. She used a non-invasive ventilator at night to keep her lungs going.

Friends said that despite her suffering she worked tirelessly to raise awareness about organ donation and transplantation.

The Live Life Then Give Life transplant charity said: "During this period, she showed great courage and determination, inspiring people across the country through her relentless campaigning and upbeat attitude.

"Jess was not only a valued Live Life Then Give Life advocate, but also a great friend to many and we offer her family our sincere condolences at this sad time.

"We will continue to campaign for all those who wait for an organ transplant and, whilst not every outcome will be what we would wish, we hope that one day all those who need a transplant will get it when they are fittest and it is most likely to have a good long-term outcome."

“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. 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.

1,200 sign up to UK newspaper's organ donor appeal

This initiative by a UK newspaper to encourage people to register to be an organ donor is a great idea and one I hope will be taken up by newspapers everywhere.

Megan Thomas, left, and Tania Sinclair, mother of Sam Sinclair, hand out organ donor registration cards before York City’s game against Mansfield

By Jennifer Bell The Press

IT is a quest which can make the difference between life and death – and it has had an incredible start.

A month to the day after The Press launched its Lifesavers, more than 1,000 people have answered our call to help.

We are aiming to secure the support of 20,000 people across York and North and East Yorkshire in joining the Organ Donor Register by the end of this year – a move which will spare so many families the heartache of losing a loved one.

New figures now show 1,220 people from this region have signed up since the organ donation drive began exactly one month ago.

Across our circulation area, 245,326 people are now on the NHS Organ Donor Register – but despite this astonishing instant response, we still need more people to sign up and save somebody’s life.

Craig Taylor, spokesman for NHS Blood and Transplant, said the number who have added their names to the register since the launch is a fantastic achievement, and has called on others to follow their example and help the campaign reach its vital goal.

“Readers of The Press have shown great commitment to organ donation by joining the NHS organ donor register since the start of the campaign – if you’ve signed up, thank you,” he said.

“But there is still an urgent need for those who believe in organ donation to act now.

“By joining you will be offering hope to those who are waiting for a life changing transplant.

“Make it one of your 2010 New Year’s resolutions.”

Our campaign – inspired by 22-year-old Miss York finalist and cystic fibrosis sufferer Emma Young who died whilst awaiting a double lung transplant – aims to ease the agony for thousands of people on the UK organ donor transplant list.

There are currently 81 people waiting for a transplant in our circulation area.

Of those, 62 need a kidney; a further three people are awaiting a kidney and pancreas, six people are awaiting a heart, three people are awaiting a liver, six people need a new lung and one person needs a new pancreas.

Since April, 68 people have received a transplant – but in this time four other have died awaiting a lifesaving organ to be donated.

Joanne Turner, donor transplant co-ordinator at York Hospital, said: “If you are thinking about organ donation or support the idea, show it and put your name on the register.”

Steve Hughes, managing editor of The Press, said: “This is an impressive start to the campaign, especially over the busy festive period. “Having an extra 1,220 people on the Organ Donor Register means more families will be spared the needless agony of losing a loved one due to a lack of suitable donors.

“Now we need to use this as a springboard and make 2010 a landmark year for organ donation in our region."


York City fans show their support
FOOTBALL fans were encouraged to sign up to the Organ Donor Register when forms were handed out at York City’s ground.

The promotions drive took place ahead of City’s Blue Square Premier match at home to Mansfield on Boxing Day, and the cause was also publicised in the match programme.

The event was organised by family and friends of Sam Sinclair, a local 19-year-old woman who died in November, following diabetes complications. Simon Mallett, one of those who organised the hand-out, said beforehand: “I just thought this would be a nice thing to do.”


HOW YOU CAN JOIN THE REGISTER
You can join the NHS Organ Donor Register by:

• Going online at http//www.organdonation.nhs.uk

• Phoning the 24-hour donor line on 0300 123 23 23.

• Texting SAVE to 84118.

You can also join when you:

• Register for a driving licence.

• Register at a GP surgery.

• Register for a European Health Insurance Card. (EHIC)

• Apply for a Boots Advantage card.

• Leaflets have also been sent to every shop or outlet that sells The Press, and are also displayed in GPs surgeries, libraries and many hospitals and pharmacies.

“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. 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.

More doctors turning to animals for tissue transplants

By Maureen McFadden WNDU.com

One in 20 people will need some kind of tissue transplant in their lifetime, and more surgeons are turning to animals for help.

Whether they've lost an ear to a bomb or their hearing to old age, medicine is crossing the species boundary to unlock the secrets of disease and re-grow what was lost.

The animals in Dr. Joseph Vacanti's lab are on the cutting edge of regenerative medicine.

We actually used human cartilage cells in a human ear shape and then on the back of this mouse, the human cartilage cells grew into a human ear,” says Dr. Vacanti, chief of pediatric surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston.

Within a year, he plans to re-grow an ear on a human in a similar way.

“We can give somebody back their own face that's been either ravaged by cancer or destroyed by a terrible accident or injured by war,” he says.

Pigs are huge helpers when it comes to healing.

“Believe it or not, their genetic makeup is pretty close to humans,” says Dr. Samer Mattar, bariatric surgeon at Clarian Bariatrics in Indianapolis.

Surgeons use material made from the pig's small intestines to repair torn muscles caused by hernias. Pig powder is re-growing severed fingers at the University of Pittsburgh.

“The simplest applications involve just being able to spread a powder or a particular form of the powder on the wound site so it can affect the wound healing process,” says Dr. Steve Badylak, director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Pittsburgh.

From land to the sea, fish are helping scientists fix hearing disorders.

If zebra fish lose hearing, they naturally re-grow new auditory cells. Scientists are studying the genetic process to restore hearing in humans. Doctors hope to eventually end deafness.

Animals are advancing medicine and teaching humans better ways of healing.

According to research found in the Journal of Transplantation, transplants from pigs might actually be safer than transplants from humans in the long run.

Experts say humans and zebra fish share about 80% of the same genes.

“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. 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.

UK Surrogate mother becomes pregnant to help lung transplant woman

Brighton woman to be surrogate mother for the eighth time

By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter The Argus

A surrogate mother is believed to have become pregnant for the eighth time after agreeing to come out of “retirement” to help another family.

Jill Hawkins is said to be ecstatic after discovering one of two embryos implanted into her body had started to grow.

Miss Hawkins, 45, from Brighton, had said she would have no more children following the birth of her seventh surrogate baby in 2006.

However she agreed to help a professional couple in their early 30s when she discovered the wife, a mother-of-one, was unable to become pregnant again because of drugs she had to take after a lung transplant.

It is the first time Miss Hawkins is carrying a child that has not developed from her own eggs.

All the previous children she has given away have been conceived using her own eggs and artificially inseminated sperm from the father.

Miss Hawkins, who will be paid £12,000 by the couple, says there is a chance she may be carrying twins.

When the baby, or babies, are born, she will hand them over to the parents while still in hospital.

She says she has no desire to keep a baby and will continue to act as a surrogate.

Miss Hawkins, a legal secretary, is the most prolific surrogate mother in Britain.

“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. 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.

Run the NYC Half-Marathon with The Fresh Air Fund!

On March 21st, the Fresh Air Fund-Racers will take to the streets at the NYC Half-Marathon! Thank you to the Fresh Air Fund-Racers and their supporters for participating in this world class event. You are making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of Fresh Air children!

One of my favorite charities is the Fresh Air Fund that makes it possible for boys and girls, six to 12 years old, who reside in low-income communities in New York City to enjoy the experience of spending two weeks of life outside the city each summer. Not only is the New York City Half-Marathon a major fundraiser for the Fresh Air Fund, it is also a very popular event that is sold-out every year.

Participants in this year's event were chosen by lottery and the winners were announced Wednesday. But as Sara Wilson, Outreach Coordinator for the Fresh Air Fund notes in her memo, there is still a chance for those who missed out on the lottery. Also, some runners may be eligible for a guaranteed entry into the NYC Half-Marathon based on time standards, charity programs and other criteria. Click here for info.

"Hi Merv

Happy 2010! Hope all is well.

I have updated information on the NYC 1/2 Marathon. The NYC lottery closed last night and winners were announced today. The FAF team still has spots available and think interested runners will start researching teams to join if they didn't win a coveted lottery spot. We would be appreciated if you could mention this in an upcoming post or tweet if there is an interest.

Readers can sign up/research further at the Registration Page.

Please let me know if there is any interest.

Cheers!
Sara"

“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. 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.

The best Christmas presents aren’t found under the tree

Posted By Angelica Blenich The Echo, Haliburton County

The sun's refusal to come out of hiding this past summer left many Haliburton residents dismayed, especially those who own cottages that can only be enjoyed for a short period of time. Heather Coneybeare however, was more than thrilled with the grey weather.

"I'm supposed to stay out of the sun," laughs Coneybeare, "so while everyone was complaining about the lack of sunshine we received this past summer for me it was great."

Last December Coneybeare was the recipient of a liver transplant and several blood transfusions. After spending three months in a hospital bed she was released this past February with some strict rules to follow, such as staying out of the sun. This year Coneybeare will be celebrating a much different Christmas with her family thanks to the selfless generosity of people she had never before met.

"I feel great," says Coneybeare. "I got to do the Christmas shopping this year and be a part of the neighborhood Christmas events. Just in general it's nice to be back home and doing the things I should be doing. There's things that take me longer to do," she says, "like cleaning the house. The energy level isn't there. But considering what kind of shape I was in before Christmas last year, there are things I can now do, like cook a turkey dinner."

In between wrapping presents for her daughter and celebrating the Christmas season with friends and family, Coneybeare will also be finding the time to advocate for a cause that she holds close to her heart, or more literally her liver.

"I got a call from Peterborough from the blood donor clinic," she says, "and I'm hoping to be able to go to their clinic as well as Bancroft's. They've asked me to come and help tell people about how important it is to have their blood donated. I certainly hope through my experience people will realize that miracles do happen," says Coneybeare, "and that it might make them more likely to consider donating."

The blood transfusions that Coneybeare received, six in total, were just part in parcel with her liver transplant. She is appreciative of both the blood and the organ she is now storing safely in her body.

"I don't ever mind talking about my experience because you never know who it could happen to next," she says. "What I hope comes out of my experience is that other people can see the benefit of it all and the appreciation of the fact that without these people, people like myself wouldn't be here. I'm so thankful for people who support blood and organ donation."

Coneybeare still does not know any of the details pertaining to her donor. Although she completed an appreciation letter for the donor family, she merely submitted it to Toronto General, the hospital responsible for the transplant surgery, who sent it on her behalf.

"It's still the issue of someone having had to die so that I could live," says Coneybeare when discussing the need to respect one's wishes for privacy. "It took a while to get my head around that one."

The truth of this matter can make the decision to donate an organ that much more traumatic for family members.

"I know it's a difficult time [when someone loses a loved one] to actually say you would donate an organ but they are needed," she says. "It's just an issue that is hard for some people to wrap their head around. A common misconception is that a donated organ has to come from a family member. An organ can come from almost anyone."

According to a new study published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), despite an increase in organ donations over the past number of years, Canada still has a long way to go.

While the availability of donated organs in Canada rose by more than 28 per cent over the past decade, this increase is not keeping pace with demand. Last year, about 215 Canadians died while waiting for an organ transplant. The study goes on to state that the number of living donors has exceeded the number of deceased donors for the past eight years and accounts for 69 per cent of the increase in donors over the past decade. In contrast, the rate of deceased donors' organs has not risen as quickly.

A deceased donor can provide up to six organs for transplantation. On average, however, 3.6 organs per deceased donor were transplanted in 2008.

"The need for transplantable organs has never been greater," explains Dr. John Gill, associate professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, a division of Nephrology at St. Paul's hospital in Vancouver, throughout the study. "The option of organ and tissue donation should be offered to all patients who die in Canadian hospitals and should be incorporated as an essential component of end-of-life care."

For Coneybeare, it was literally a matter of life or death.

"There are still people in need of transplants dying," says Coneybeare. "It's important to donate, it's a gift of life."

“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. 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.

'Give our little girl the gift of life in 2010'

Paris Cowens with her parents James Jones and Tammy Cowens at their home in Lidget Green

By Claire Lomax The Telegraph & Argus

The family of a little girl who needs a new liver are calling on the people of Bradford to make joining the organ donor register their new year resolution.

Paris Cowens, who celebrated her first birthday on November 25, is one of 10,000 people in the UK who need an organ transplant.

While online and phone sign-ups to the organ donor register quadrupled in November 2009, compared to the same month in 2008, more must be done, with three people dying every day while they wait for an organ to become available.

Little Paris has a condition called biliary atresia which only affects about 50 babies born in England and Wales each year. It means the bile duct to her liver is blocked causing bile to build up in the liver, which poisons it.

As a result, Paris, who is under the care of the paediatric liver team at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, is jaundiced, has a swollen stomach and is frequently admitted to hospital because of complications caused by the disease.

She was diagnosed shortly after birth at Bradford Royal Infirmary and underwent an operation in a bid to unblock the ducts. But the operation was unsuccessful and complications set in. She was placed on the transplant list in October and is now waiting for a new liver to become available to save her life.

A pager goes everywhere with whoever is caring for Paris, who lives in Hollingwood Avenue, Lidget Green, with her grandmother Sandra Jones and her partner Paul Rushworth and her parents Tammy Cowens and James Jones.

Mrs Jones said: “It is just a waiting game really. Even if a liver comes up it all depends on who is also waiting and who it is most suitable for.”

The family have all joined the organ donor register and although he is not a blood relation Mr Rushworth offered to undergo tests earlier this year to see if he could become a living donor for Paris.

Doctors have said Paris was too little for this option but Mrs Jones added: “Paris has put some weight on so we are hoping we can try to get something done soon.

“In the meantime we would call on everyone to consider putting their name on the organ donor register.”

Sally Johnson, director of organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant said: “Rather than making what can often be an unachievable and unfulfilling resolution, this year we’re calling on everyone to do something that could make all the difference in the world and save someone’s life.

“If we are to help the 10,000 patients in need of a transplant and prevent three people needlessly dying every day due to a lack of organs, we need many more people to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and discuss their decision with the people closest to them.”

“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. 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.