EDITORIAL: Organ donation: The greatest gift

Posted 4/14/15

Here in Powell, we’ve seen the power of the miracles performed when someone is willing to give the gift of life.

Following are several examples in our community:

Donna DeVoss received a liver from an anonymous donor in May 2010. Her own …

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EDITORIAL: Organ donation: The greatest gift

Posted

April is National Donate Life Month, which aims to increase the number of people who register as organ donors.

Organ transplants can extend the lives of people who, only days before, were facing certain death.

Here in Powell, we’ve seen the power of the miracles performed when someone is willing to give the gift of life.

Following are several examples in our community:

Donna DeVoss received a liver from an anonymous donor in May 2010. Her own liver had failed to the degree that, as she put it, “I knew I was either going to heaven or getting a liver.”

After her transplant, she described herself as “a walking miracle.”

Last week, DeVoss said her donated liver still is functioning well.

“I’m just totally thrilled,” she said.

In June 2012, Kelly Eckerdt received a new kidney from a friend, Carla Wensky.

Eckerdt said Friday, “Aside from the pure blessing from God to have my life extended, I am in great awe that someone, my donor, was willing to donate life to me.”

Wensky said, “It was a wonderful experience to be able to help someone in that way, and I would do it again if I could — if I had another kidney to spare.”

Another young woman, Nicolle Cruz, donated a kidney to Tim Seeley, a co-worker, in January 2014.

Seeley said he was at peace with the knowledge that he wasn’t going to live very long. Then Cruz offered to donate a kidney.

“All of a sudden, I had a new lease on life,” Seeley said last week. “It came from an unexpected person. It was very shocking, and it has really deepened my faith, and my faith in humanity as basically good.”

Donating her kidney “was an amazing experience,” Cruz said last week. “If I had more than two kidneys, I would do it again. If you’re in a position where you’re able to, why not?”

Last December, Greg Benander got the heart transplant he needed from an anonymous donor.

Now, he is getting stronger every day, doing cardiac rehabilitation and exercising twice a week. He still is in Salt Lake, but will return home in two months.

Benander said he is awed by the fact that his life has been extended because someone signed up to be a donor, or because a family, facing the loss of a loved one, was willing to donate his or her heart to give him a second chance at life.

“I get real emotional about it,” he said. “That’s hard for me to grasp.”

Unfortunately, many people never get the organs they need to return to health. Summer Bell, formerly of Powell, died Oct. 30, 2011. Bell, who suffered from lung disease, had been on the national transplant list for years. Her mother, Laura Kurtz of Powell, now works with Donate Life America to encourage people to register as organ donors, in the hope that she can spare another family the pain of the loss of a loved one.

According to Donate Life America, more than 123,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants to save their lives. Thousands more are in need of tissue and cornea transplants to restore their mobility and sight.

“Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor today and provide hope to those who wait,” the organization’s website urges.

One of the people on that waiting list now is Marc Beaudry of Powell, who is on dialysis and in need of a kidney.

Organ donors are unspoken heroes, Seeley said.

Eckerdt said, “I think about the things I would be missing out on right now if not for my new kidney. I would be missing out on running and playing with my grandchildren; hiking and camping with my husband, family and friends; travel; and the pure joy of taking in the beauty around me. ... I am blessed to be here today to tell others about how important it is to consider donation and giving life to others.”

To register as an organ donor, visit http://donatelife.net.

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