Gifts of Life

Organ donors offer hope to those awaiting transplants

The giving of a much-needed gift is a blessing for both the giver and the receiver. But when that gift is a life-sustaining organ, everyone involved is profoundly changed.

Commitment and responsibility are two words Len Geiger, 45, of Gainesville, Ga. (pop. 25,578), associates with organ transplant. In 2002, a double lung transplant gave Geiger an opportunity to rebuild a life devastated by a genetic lung disease. It's an opportunity he has taken seriously.

After receiving the lungs of Korrine Shroyer, a 14-year-old from Lynchburg, Va. (pop. 65,269), Geiger rebounded with passion, including competing in marathons alongside Shroyer's father, Kevin, and Dr. Mark Robbins, who performed the transplant at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville (pop. 45,049).

Advancements in organ transplantation allow many recipients to have full, active lives, though they still must take medication to prevent their bodies from rejecting the organs. Recipients also are at higher risk for complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer.

Since the first transplant in 1954-the transfer of a kidney from one man to his twin brother-at least 400,000 people nationwide have received donated organs. Transplantation was in its infancy then and complications were common. Thanks to medical ad-vances, today's recipients are more likely to survive and thrive.
"The greatest barrier to transplantation is access to organs," Dr. Robbins says.

The reasons for limited availability vary. Many people are reluctant to donate organs due to lack of information, misunderstanding about how people qualify for organ donation or concerns about cost or disfigurement. These barriers can be bridged, Dr. Robbins says, through education.

Recipients and donor families are the best teachers. With that in mind, Geiger and the Shroyers met several months after Geiger's lung transplant, in front of television cameras. All felt it was a way to promote organ donation.

"That kind of coverage can have a profound effect on the decision of other people to become organ donors," Geiger says.
It was an occasion marked by tears and a sense of deep gratitude. The Shroyers gave Geiger photos of their daughter and told stories about her.

"We spent about two hours together," recalls Geiger, who stays in touch with the family. "When we were preparing to leave, Kristie (Korrine's mother) ran over to me. She laid her hands in the center of my chest and asked, 'Can you breathe for me?' What more can I say."

Heart of a champion
Diana Harris was 49 when she learned her heart was barely functioning. Her focus shifted from the busy life of a working mother of two sons to surviving while waiting for the call that an appropriate heart had been found. When the Ardmore, Okla. (pop. 23,711), woman was notified last year that a heart was available, she was ecstatic. But that emotion turned to ambivalence when she learned it was the heart of 14-year-old Amanda Westermier of Edmond, Okla. (pop. 68,315), a barrel-racing champion killed in a riding accident.

"I nearly turned down the heart," says Harris, now 54. "I just couldn't see how I could be happy when there was a family out there that was faced with taking a daughter off life support."

Ultimately, Harris realized that by accepting Amanda's heart, she would be helping the Westermier family heal. "I now have the heart of a champion," Harris says.

Shortly after the transplant, Harris, and several others who received Amanda's organs, met with the girl's parents, Greg and Tammy. It was a bittersweet introduction, but also a time of healing for all involved.

"The donations represented a glimmer of hope for others," says Greg Westermier, a firefighter and emergency medical technician. The bond between the Westermiers and the recipients continues. On Father's Day, Harris sent Westermier a card.

"To donate Amanda's organs was the right decision for us," Westermier says. "Organ donation allowed something good to come from our tragedy."

Give and take
Public awareness and the selflessness of some donors offer hope to some people awaiting transplants, and the shared experience can be life-altering for both beneficiary and benefactor.

For Scott Wakefield, 41, of McCall, Idaho (pop. 2,084), the decision to donate one of his kidneys made sense. "When I thought of the small amount of pain and short recovery time I'd experience to help someone else, it was an easy decision," says Wakefield, whose kidney was removed during a five-hour surgery in 2003 and donated to someone he'd never met.

An avid cyclist, Wakefield rode cross-country shortly after his surgery to raise awareness about organ transplants from living donors. During his trip, he met Dr. David Spence, 63, of Flagstaff, Ariz. (pop. 52,994). Inspired by Wakefield's donation, seven months later Dr. Spence donated one of his kidneys.

While Wakefield has never met the recipient of his kidney, they have corresponded anonymously. "He calls me 'his angel,'" says Wakefield shyly. "I never thought of myself in those terms, but I will tell you, the donation has made miraculous changes in my life."

Becoming an Organ Donor
Virtually anyone can be an organ donor, including newborns and senior citizens, though donors typically must be free of high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, kidney disease and heart disease.
Signing an organ donor card and having that information on your driver's license are good first steps. To ensure your organ donation wishes are respected:

• Join the donor registry, if your state has one.
• Put your organ donation desires in writing and have the document included in your medical record each time you see a new health care provider or are hospitalized.
• Make sure your family, health care providers and attorney understand your organ donation wishes.

While major organs transplants are often in the news, corneas, skin, bone marrow, heart valves and connective tissue also can be donated. Because transplanting organs between members of the same ethnic and racial group often enhances success, the need for organ donation among racial minorities is particularly important.

Donations are distributed locally first; if no match is found, they are offered regionally, and then nationally, until a recipient is found. Recipients pay all costs related to transplantation of organs and tissues.

To learn more about organ donation, log on to www.organdonor.org or www.organdonor.gov.

Mardy Fones is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn.

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