Carrying the torch for organ donation
The Truro Daily News
TRURO DAILY NEWS
TRURO – High school students took part this week in a national campaign to raise awareness for organ donations.
Step By Step founder George Marcello spoke to the students before they carried the torch from town hall to Cobequid Educational Centre.
“It’s got an awesome history,” he said, explaining how he carried the torch during his walk across the country in 2000 after receiving a liver transplant. “Halfway during my walk I received a call from Vatican City. At first I thought it was a prank... The next thing I knew I’m in front of the pope and I’m passing him this torch.”
Students Rose Fisher and Alex Visser-Waterman carried the torch to the school. Rose described it as a memorable experience.
“I felt so proud to be carrying this torch and supporting this cause,” she said.
Both decided at a young age to be organ donors.
“It’s a way to give people a second chance in life and I don’t see why anybody would pass up that opportunity,” Alex said.
One organ donor can save up to six lives while a single tissue donor can help up to 30 people.
To become a donor, fill out the form from Registration for Health Services or your Nova Scotia Health Care renewal. If your card is not due to be renewed, call the MSI office at 1-800-563-8880 and have them mail you the form.
For more information about the cross Canada walk, visit www.stepbystep.ca or sos4000.com.
26/10/07
Promoting Organ Donations the Gift of Life
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Organ donation myths dispelled
http://media.www.bgnews.com/media/storage/paper883/news/2007/10/25/Campus/Organ.Donation.Myths.Dispelled-3055795-page2.shtml
Monday, October 22, 2007
Pupils taught importance of organ transplants
Pupils taught importance of organ donation
Schoolchildren across Lancashire are to be given a special lesson to highlight the need for blood, organ, tissue and bone marrow donors.
Give and Let Live is a free educational resource for teachers to use in Personal, Social and Health Education and Citizenship classes.It is available to secondary schools across the UK and aimed at 14 to 16-year-olds, who, it is hoped, will be the lifesaving donors of the future.More than 7,000 people in the UK are currently waiting for transplants –around 400 from the Lancashire area.Hutton Grammar School, near Preston, is one of the first schools in Lancashire to sign up for the educational packs, and Margaret Hughes, personal development co-ordinator at the school, said: "I will be introducing the topic into lessons and opening it up for debate."There are a lot of interesting angles such as should people opt in or opt out when it comes to becoming a donor. Some young people may not know what is involved with donating blood, organs or bone marrow and we will be covering this."A lot of the children may not appreciate how important donation is, unless they, or a family member, have benefited from the donation."We will not be telling people that they should become donors as
that is all down to personal choice. We will provide them with as much information as we can so they can make an informed personal decision about what they want to do."Produced by NHS Blood and Transplant, Give and Let Live comprises a website along with lesson plans, activity sheets, real life stories, debating topics, games, films and other activities.The aim is to show young people how they can make a difference to other people's lives, dispel myths and help them decide whether giving blood, joining the NHS Organ Donor Register, or signing up to a bone marrow registry is something they would like to do.Dr Tim Wallington of NHS Blood and Transplant said: "There is a critical and ongoing need for donated organs, blood, tissue, and bone marrow."The support of the public is vital to enable the life-saving procedures to take place that are made possible by these donations."
Last Updated: 22 October 2007 1:04 PM
Schoolchildren across Lancashire are to be given a special lesson to highlight the need for blood, organ, tissue and bone marrow donors.
Give and Let Live is a free educational resource for teachers to use in Personal, Social and Health Education and Citizenship classes.It is available to secondary schools across the UK and aimed at 14 to 16-year-olds, who, it is hoped, will be the lifesaving donors of the future.More than 7,000 people in the UK are currently waiting for transplants –around 400 from the Lancashire area.Hutton Grammar School, near Preston, is one of the first schools in Lancashire to sign up for the educational packs, and Margaret Hughes, personal development co-ordinator at the school, said: "I will be introducing the topic into lessons and opening it up for debate."There are a lot of interesting angles such as should people opt in or opt out when it comes to becoming a donor. Some young people may not know what is involved with donating blood, organs or bone marrow and we will be covering this."A lot of the children may not appreciate how important donation is, unless they, or a family member, have benefited from the donation."We will not be telling people that they should become donors as
that is all down to personal choice. We will provide them with as much information as we can so they can make an informed personal decision about what they want to do."Produced by NHS Blood and Transplant, Give and Let Live comprises a website along with lesson plans, activity sheets, real life stories, debating topics, games, films and other activities.The aim is to show young people how they can make a difference to other people's lives, dispel myths and help them decide whether giving blood, joining the NHS Organ Donor Register, or signing up to a bone marrow registry is something they would like to do.Dr Tim Wallington of NHS Blood and Transplant said: "There is a critical and ongoing need for donated organs, blood, tissue, and bone marrow."The support of the public is vital to enable the life-saving procedures to take place that are made possible by these donations."
Last Updated: 22 October 2007 1:04 PM
Boy,9, Recovering from 2nd Organ Transplant
Oct 22, 2007 8:50 am US/Central
Boy, 9, Recovering From 2nd Organ Transplant
Sue TurnerReporting
(WCCO) There are more than 86,000 people in the United States waiting for an organ transplant and every day, 17 of those people waiting will die. Sean Fox, 9, is one of the lucky ones. He has received two organ transplants in the past two years. A year-and-a-half ago, he got a lung transplant. In July, Sean got a new liver. "It was very stressful, very, and toward the last couple of weeks, I think that his body was starting to shut down," said Sean's mother Ami Fox.The entire Fox family has been living at the Ronald McDonald House for the past two years. Now, they are looking forward to heading back to their Black River Falls, Wis. house in a few weeks.Doctors don't know exactly what made Sean's organs fail. They hope he is on the road to recovery, but even with two major organ transplants, rejection and infection were not their biggest concerns."The biggest challenge for us and for individual patients, actually, is to get a transplant in a timely fashion," said Dr. Abhi Humar with the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital Fairview.The problem is supply and demand. Sean was lucky. He waited just three months for his lung transplant. His liver transplant was based on how sick he was and at the end, he moved up the list quickly."We're standing in Target and the phone rang and it was the nurse from the ICU saying, 'The doctors want you back here as soon as possible. They think they have a liver,'" Ami Fox said. That was a call Ami Fox will never forget. Children can be tougher to get organs for because sometimes doctors can only use organs from other children. Ami Fox said she will never forget the child who gave the liver for Sean. "Their family will be in our prayers for the rest of our lives, because if it weren't for them, our son wouldn't be here," Ami Fox said. Many other families will not get a happy ending. Humar said putting organ donor on your driver's license is not enough. "The most common reason probably that we get for not getting consent in the United States right now is that people, family members are unwilling to make the decision for their loved ones," Humar said. If you want to be a living organ donor, which would include a kidney or the liver, contact the Transplant Center at the University of Minnesota Fairview. To make sure your family knows of your wishes after you die, you can register with Donate Life Minnesota.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All
Boy, 9, Recovering From 2nd Organ Transplant
Sue TurnerReporting
(WCCO) There are more than 86,000 people in the United States waiting for an organ transplant and every day, 17 of those people waiting will die. Sean Fox, 9, is one of the lucky ones. He has received two organ transplants in the past two years. A year-and-a-half ago, he got a lung transplant. In July, Sean got a new liver. "It was very stressful, very, and toward the last couple of weeks, I think that his body was starting to shut down," said Sean's mother Ami Fox.The entire Fox family has been living at the Ronald McDonald House for the past two years. Now, they are looking forward to heading back to their Black River Falls, Wis. house in a few weeks.Doctors don't know exactly what made Sean's organs fail. They hope he is on the road to recovery, but even with two major organ transplants, rejection and infection were not their biggest concerns."The biggest challenge for us and for individual patients, actually, is to get a transplant in a timely fashion," said Dr. Abhi Humar with the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital Fairview.The problem is supply and demand. Sean was lucky. He waited just three months for his lung transplant. His liver transplant was based on how sick he was and at the end, he moved up the list quickly."We're standing in Target and the phone rang and it was the nurse from the ICU saying, 'The doctors want you back here as soon as possible. They think they have a liver,'" Ami Fox said. That was a call Ami Fox will never forget. Children can be tougher to get organs for because sometimes doctors can only use organs from other children. Ami Fox said she will never forget the child who gave the liver for Sean. "Their family will be in our prayers for the rest of our lives, because if it weren't for them, our son wouldn't be here," Ami Fox said. Many other families will not get a happy ending. Humar said putting organ donor on your driver's license is not enough. "The most common reason probably that we get for not getting consent in the United States right now is that people, family members are unwilling to make the decision for their loved ones," Humar said. If you want to be a living organ donor, which would include a kidney or the liver, contact the Transplant Center at the University of Minnesota Fairview. To make sure your family knows of your wishes after you die, you can register with Donate Life Minnesota.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All
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