I was traveling from Texas to Minnesota following a conference on donation and transplant. Several of us from the Upper Midwest were on the flight and we were all wearing the same t-shirt with the message “Everyone Shares the Gift of Life” – our organization’s vision statement. The person sitting next to me – Matthew, I later learned – asked me about our t-shirts. After explaining LifeSource and what we do, I asked him if he was a registered donor.

“Yes, of course, I have it on my driver’s license,” he shared. “My dad needed a heart.”

And there it was, the reason we do what we do – because there are people out there who are desperately depending on us to help them. They have kids, a spouse, perhaps, and friends they love and communities in which they are involved. It’s up to us – all of us – to help ensure they get the transplant they need.

Duncan, overlooking his beloved vegetable garden

Matthew’s dad was Duncan, a 58 year old man who was generous to his core. Diagnosed at age 40 with type 1 diabetes, Duncan’s body became ravaged by the disease until his heart failed. He was on the list for a transplant for six months when he received the call that there was a heart available. After taking a private moment with his wife, Judith, he asked an incredibly unselfish question of his doctor, one many people wouldn’t dream of asking: “Is there someone who needs this heart more than I do?” His doctor paused for a brief second and then answered, “yes,” and Duncan replied that the other person should receive the precious gift of that heart. He died just over 1 month later.

We can’t change what happened to Duncan 11 years ago. We can’t change the fact that Matthew, his three siblings, and their mother Judith, are missing Duncan today. We can do our best to create change so that people like Duncan who are on the waiting list today receive the gift they need.

Please, take the time to learn about organ, eye and tissue donation and register your decision today. Then tell your family and friends that you support donation, and ask them to do the same.

Each time someone registers to be an organ, eye and tissue donor they are providing hope to people waiting. Hope that they may receive the transplant they need. Hope that people care.

Unfortunately, each day people die while waiting for a transplant. Alexa’s story sheds light on the urgency with which we need to increase support for donation throughout the country to save more lives.

Alexa was a teenager from West Fargo, ND who died waiting for a double-lung transplant. Because she was near the top of the list, she and her family thought without doubt she would receive the transplant she desperately needed. Alexa’s parents have struggled knowing that their daughter’s life could have been saved had a generous family said ‘yes’ to donation.

Since her death, Alexa’s parents, Loren and Monica Kersting, have dedicated their energy to promoting donation so that more people get the transplant they need. They have shared their story with communities around the country, urging more people to register as donors.

They also started a foundation called Alexa’s Hope, intended to help end deaths on the transplant waiting list with an initial focus on pediatric patients. If you watched Mikey’s story on Wednesday then you saw that it was Loren, Mikey’s principal, who talked about Alexa’s Hope and inspired him to share with his family that he wanted to be a donor.

In 2006 Monica and Loren helped LifeSource share the message of donation through an advertising campaign called The List. It’s a powerful story and a reminder that each of the more than 114,000 people waiting for a transplant have a story. Our hope is that Alexa inspires people to register as a donor so that everyone waiting for a transplant receives the gift they need. That is her legacy.

Each day, 18 people in the US die because there are not enough organs for everyone who needs one.  We don’t want Nikki to be a statistic.

Watch her story and be inspired to share with your personal and professional networks to inspire people to register to be organ, eye and tissue donors so that everyone who needs an organ will be able to receive the gift they need. 

This one-hour documentary is a co-production of tpt National Productions and Minneapolis filmmaker Dennis Mahoney and showcases the miraculous recoveries after transplant made by recipients which is possible only because of our generous donors and their families. Among the local stories told are that of liver recipient Elliott Bozak from Rosemount, MN; liver recipient Mary Brackey from Crystal, MN; and donor Chelsea Nielson from Elk River, MN.  

Please tune in to the premiere tonight or to one of the many re-broadcasts this week.  You can see a full list of air times on tpt‘s website. We also encourage you to share with your personal and professional networks and encourage them to watch this inspirational film.

Pictured: Isabel Stenzel Byrnes, Nikki Malnar, Anabel Stenzel

It was an honor to attend this movie with Nikki, a LifeSource volunteer who is waiting for the gift of a lung transplant. Like Ana and Isa, Nikki has Cystic Fibrosis. Like Ana and Isa, Nikki is a wonder of strength and positive energy. She has hope that she too will receive the gift of transplantation. Nikki is journaling her experience on her blog Nikki’snewlungs as she waits for that call.

Susan Mau Larson

Director, Public Affairs

Bruce Sellner

Today would be Bruce Sellner’s 59^th birthday.

Fair-goers will be honoring his legacy today as they enjoy some of the Fair’s rides with their families.  You see, Bruce invented many of the amusement park rides we all enjoy – things like the Berry-Go-Round, Spin the Apple and Monkey Mayhem, to name a few.   And the Sellner family also invented one of the most well-know fair rides, the Tilt-a-Whirl, right here in Faribault, MN. 

Bruce also has another legacy – his connection to donation and transplantation.

Bruce had two auto-immune disorders, the combination of which was quite rare.  One of the medications he took to manage his diseases damaged his lungs, which then weakened his heart.  He was listed for a heart and lung transplant in 1993.

While he was waiting for his transplant, Bruce shared that it was the little things in life that he missed, like being able to shovel snow or rake the leaves.   “I always think about that,” says his daughter, Erin.  “When I’m hot and tired and I don’t want to mow the lawn I just thank God that I can.”

Erin describes her dad as someone who loved to travel, had a great sense of humor, was passionate about his work and was so very proud that his family built amusement rides.  “I grew up going from one county fair to the next!”

Bruce waited for his transplants for two years.  Near the end of his wait his family doctor came to the house to tell him that he had become too sick to undergo a transplant and was being removed from the waiting list.  He was just 44 years old when he died on Labor Day in 1995, the last day of the Minnesota State Fair.  Erin was 21.

“He was hanging on to the hope that he would get the transplant,” shares Erin. “Once that hope was gone, he just let go.”

This afternoon, Erin and her mom, Tovah, are sharing Bruce’s story at the Fair, encouraging others to register as

Tovah and Erin Sellner at the Donate Life booth

donors so that fewer people will have to suffer the same fate.  Erin now has a daughter of her own, a 14-year old named Mallory.  “She’s growing up hearing grandpa Bruce stories, but it’s just not the same.”

“When my dad was waiting for his transplant, people didn’t talk about organ donation as much as they do today.  It is so encouraging for people who are waiting now that we’re talking about it so much more.”

This is their second year volunteering at the Fair and, as Erin shares, “We’ll never miss it again.”

Dale is not a recipient or a donor family member.  Dale’s story is a tragic reminder of the fact that there are not enough organs donated to help everyone in need.  In 2005, after 15 months on the transplant waiting list, his wife, Mary, died before she was able to receive the lung transplant she so desperately needed.  Mary died just a few days before their first granddaughter, Callie, was born.

A second marriage for both Dale and Mary, they had just celebrated their 12th anniversary when Mary went to the doctor suspecting that she had bronchitis.  Instead, she found out that she had Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and that her condition was terminal.   The only cure was a lung transplant. “It hit us like a ton of bricks,” said Dale. “We were just not expecting that.”

During the 15 months that Mary was listed for transplant, one of her daughters was accepted as a living lung donor for her.  They still needed to find a second donor, however.  Living lung donation is a rare procedure in which a lobe from two living donors is transplanted into the recipient.      

Since Mary’s death, Dale has become an active volunteer for LifeSource.  In his years working at the State Fair, Dale estimates that he has registered upwards of 80 people. In the hour I spent with him this morning, he registered five additional people as organ and tissue donors.  “That’s why we’re here,” he shares.

Dale has also shared his story at work several times, and said that at least 40 people have told him that he and Mary are the reason they have registered as donors.

As I watched Dale talk with fairgoers this morning, I hear him repeat a statistic we so often share but rarely can personalize.  “Each day 18 people die while they wait for a transplant.  My wife was one of those 18 people.”

We know that by sharing their stories and giving people the facts about donation, our volunteers are providing hope to the people on the transplant list who are still waiting for their second chance at life.  Thank you for everything you do to help end deaths on the transplant waiting list.

Recently, Dave received a  package of letters from driver’s education students he spoke with in Northern Minnesota.  A few of the students began their letters “Dear Famous Dave…”  It is an incredible insight into the difference Dave, and so many of our volunteers, are making in our communities when they share their story with young people.  I’d like to share some of these letters with you.

“Thanks for coming in to teach us how donating is such a life giving thing.  It has always been such a touchy-topic for me and I just hated the subject so much just to think of donating my organs.  But you’re right I won’t be needing them after I’m gone, and if anything I’d love to know that I’ve saved a life.  I hope your heart heals perfectly.”

- J.

“I really appreciated you taking your time to come and talk to us about being a donor or not when we get our drivers license.  You really helped me make my own decision.  I think I’m going to be a donor if I’m able to save another life.”

- M.

“Thank you for coming in and informing us about donating organs and tissues.  I know now that I’m going to be a donor.”

- T.

“I really hope you get your heart.  You truly deserve it! Thank you for coming in and persuading others to save lives too.  Most likely none of us will ever end up having to donate.  But we must prepare for the ‘what if.’ Thanks again.”

- C.

And here’s my personal favorite:

“I greatly appreciated your time and knowledge!  I learned a lot and I would love to be a donor! I had a ton of more fun listening to you than doing worksheets in class!  Thanks for coming!

- A.

Making the decision to register as an organ and tissue donor is an empowering and generous decision.  For many young people, this is the first adult decision they will make when they receive their license.  It is incredibly important that they have accurate information on which to base this decision. 

I know I speak for everyone at LifeSource when I say that we are so deeply appreciative of the people who have been touched by donation and are willing to share their story with their community to encourage others to register.  We know it isn’t always easy and we hope you take comfort in knowing that you are truly making a difference.

Generally a get-together is planned for the 1^st Thursday of the month for anyone associated with donation and transplants.  We changed the date for this month of January.  We are meeting at Champs on Western Avenue in Sioux Falls, 5:30, January 7^th.  If anyone is interested in attending our get-together, please call 605-373-6584 or email curlymom@sio.midco.net by noon Jan 7^th so Charlene can make reservations.

Angie

Angie, from Hudson WI, had the world by the tail. She was young, talented, pretty and recently married. The one thing she didn’t have was a donated heart. Angie died January 15^th, 2006 before she got the transplant that she needed. Her mom, Dawn Franzmeier of Osceola has made it her mission to educate as many people as possible about organ and tissue donation. In November, Dawn spoke at Hudson High School.

A few weeks after this presentation, Dawn received the following letter of thanks. It was affirmation for her that at least one young person really heard her message that day and it helps energize her to continue her fight on behalf of others like Angie.

Dear Dawn,

I wanted to say your presentation was very touching and definitely changed my mind about being an organ donor. I always wanted to be an organ donor but I wasn’t 100% sure about it. Some of the things just freaked me out, like having my body parts in someone else’s body. But after you came and talked to us about your daughter and her experience, I was very touched and realized what a difference can make for one person if one person donates just the smallest organ. I had an aunt that died of liver cancer and she was waiting on the list. She had three daughters and a husband. After about a little under a year of being diagnosed, she passed away. I just wanted to say thanks for coming in and sharing your story with us.

T. D. (Driver’s ed. student)