DONATE LIFE ROSE PARADE FLOAT - UTICA, NEW YORK

Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare Greeter to represent Center for Donation and Transplant at 2011 Rose Parade

UTICA, N.Y. - John Weakley, a greeter at Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare (FSLH), has been selected by the Center for Donation and Transplant in Albany to serve as a float rider in the 2011 Rose Parade.

This December, Weakley and his wife Carol will fly to Pasadena, California, to help honor transplant donors and recipients. Weakley is one of 28 riders nominated to decorate and ride on the Donate Life parade float in the 122ndRose Parade. The “Seize the Day!” float will feature soaring kites that are adorned with floragraphs (floral portraits) of deceased donors to commemorate how their donations gave rise to new life.

For Weakley, his road to the Rose Bowl began in 1992 when he received a heart transplant. After suffering two heart attacks before the age of 55, surgery was his only option for recovery. The significance of the gift he received was not lost on Weakley. “A family had just lost a loved one,” he said. “However, they were able to think of helping someone else during that difficult time.”

Following his surgery, Weakley committed himself to raising awareness of organ and tissue transplant in the Mohawk Valley. In addition to organizing transplant support groups and addressing students at local schools and health fairs, he also organized the “Walk of Life.” The awareness walk was held for four consecutive years at Proctor Park and attended by nearly 250 recipients, donors and their families. In 1993, Weakley began volunteering at FSLH and was hired in 2006 as a full-time patient greeter at the St. Luke’s Campus. “I love working as a greeter. I can relate to what the patients are going through and it can make a difference in the outcome of their treatment,” said Weakley.

After watching the Rose Bowl on television many times before, Weakley is excited to have the opportunity to attend in person on behalf of this important cause. “I never dreamed that I would be included in the Rose Bowl,” he said. “It is a really tremendous honor.”