Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Organ Donation Awareness Week

This week (April 17-24) is National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week. As you know if you read this blog, I am the fortunate recipient of a heart and two lungs. So every year when this week comes around it is a special time for me. We work hard as a family to promote organ and tissue donation all year long, but this time of the year is especially important.

Last night I was blessed to be able to attend the Celebration of Thanks. It is a service where the families of those who have given or organs or tissues, are given a medal to commemorate the gift of their loved one. It's always a powerful ceremony and last night was no exception. Powerful testimonials were given by the mother of a heart transplant recipient and the mother of a young donor. Both mom's were great examples of why organ and tissue donation are so important.

So if you haven't already, I encourage you to have a conversation with your family about organ and tissue donation. Of course I hope that you never have to make such a tough decision in such horrible circumstances, but if you ever do, I hope it will be the decision to give life.

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