Porter Regional Hospital held a Flag Raising Ceremony with the cooperation of the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization (IOPO) recognizing all the donors and recipients and those waiting for an organ donation to bring awareness to this issue.
According to Donate Life America, there are more than 115,000 Americans and more than 1,400 Hoosiers who are currently waiting for a life-saving transplant.
Jonathan Nalli, C.E.O. of Porter Regional Hospital shared the National Donate Life Month Proclamation stating, “The people of Porter Regional Hospital join to recognize those who are inspired to give the ‘gift of life’ through organ donation.”
Nalli added, “There are more than one million life-enhancing tissue transplants each year that are made possible by the generous donation of corneas, bone, skin and other tissue. We can all help to save or enhance the lives of more than 25 recipients by signing up to become an organ, eye and tissue donor by enrolling in the Indiana Donor Registry when we apply for, or renew, our drivers licenses, or online at DonateLifeIndiana.org.”
He continued, “This observance pays tribute to organ, eye and tissue donors and their families whose decision to Donate Life enables others to receive life-saving organs and tissues for transplant. ‘I Jonathan Nalli, C.E.O of Porter Regional Hospital – Valparaiso, Indiana, do hereby proclaim April 2013 to be NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTH, and urge all the citizens of the counties we serve to take cognizance of this event.”
Ruth Woodhall, a living organ donor and Porter Regional Hospital associate, attended the event and stated, “I am honored to work for an organization that recognizes and supports the need for organ donation.”
Woodhall was not the only one in attendance that was directly touched by organ donation, as double-lung transplant recipient Maria Knowlton said she received her first “gift of life” when she was 28 years old.
Knowlton stated, “I received my transplant in 2000. I had Cystic Fibrosis. I would have been grateful for just one month of a normal life, but I just celebrated my golden anniversary, on April 13 last week, of 13 years. I used to take breathing treatments every day, I coughed a lot; it was very difficult to breath.”
She added, “When I was 28 years old I received my double-lung transplant, my first ‘gift of life.’ In 2003 I received my second ‘gift of life’ with the adoption of our son Ian and in 2009 I received my third ‘gift of life’ with the adoption of our daughter Josie. Without the transplant I would never have had the chance at a normal life or to be a mom.”
Also in attendance was Rona Edquist grandmother of Megan, who was the first infant heart transplant recipient in Indiana.
“Megan passed away, but we had 10 years with her and we wouldn’t have gotten to know her or see how beautiful she was without the transplant,” Edquist said. “After she passed away, her mother donated her eyes. We are givers and receivers in this family, and after my husband passed away, we donated his skin and bone. His skin went to help burn victims.”
Marti Cooper, Community Relations at IOPO, said the Flag Raising Ceremony is a reminder for what organ donation is about.
“I’ve been doing this for over 20 years and it’s because of people like these that receive a second chance at life why I do this,” Cooper said. “Organ donation not only gives people a second chance at life, but it keeps families together. I also do this because of our donor families that give that gift of organ donation. I see the peace and the comfort that the families have for their loved ones. They are saving lives and this way they know their loved one is being remembered and honored and leaving behind a legacy.”
April is National Donate Life Month. Consider being an organ donor and giving the “gift of life.”
Click here for the Donate Life America website.
To learn more about Donate Life Indiana, click here.
To read a Valpo Life in the Spotlight featuring Ruth Woodhall, follow this link.
In order to see more great photos from the ceremony, jump to the gallery!