BC Transplant benefit inspires guests: Live Life. Pass It On.

By Colette | 65 Red Roses

Last night six of us from the Hello Cool World outreach team attended BC Transplant‘s screening of65_RedRoses at the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver. We arrived early with our usual bag of tricks—postcards, posters, DVDs of the film—along with a carefully constructed media wall designed by HCW’s Bella Sie using our signature photo of Eva (by Cyrus McEachern) which formed our back drop for the photos below.

HCW’s Kat Dodds and Jorge Amigo along with Rebecca Peel and I greeted guests as they arrived while HCW’s Michelle Reid snapped photos. You can check out the event album below! Bella, who recently sprained her ankle was on crutches so she tended the table and talked about #4Eva – The Movement for Organ Donation and sold DVDs and posters, the proceeds from which get reinvested back into the Movement.

Allison Colina and Mary Pappajohn of BC Transplant set up a beautiful display of the Live Life. Pass It On. campaign materials which were from a BC Transplant commissioned art project that Eva Markvoort and her friend Cyrus McEachern collaborated on with real life organ recipients including Eva herself as models. Eva, the talented artist she was, painted the anatomically accurate organs on the models and Cyrus–a medical student and close friend of Eva’s–took the photos. The images are now part of a province-wide awareness campaign promoting organ donor registration.

Look out for the Live Life. Pass It On. posters around the city and if you see one, snap a pic, email it to us and tell us where you found it. We’ll post it to our #4Eva Tumblr account where we’ll be visually documenting the #4Eva Movement.

At 7:30pm, once guests had settled into their seats, Penny Clark-Richardson, Director of Organ Donation & Hospital Development at BC Transplant thanked the audience for coming out and supporting their cause and introduced Amanda Poch, a 32-year old women and liver recipient whose image also appears in the Live Life. Pass It On. campaign. Amanda shared her personal and touching story about being diagnosed with liver disease in her mid-twenties. A dancer and active young person, she talked about how hard it was to accept the disease at such a young age when you’re living a healthy active life and supposed to be invincible.

When Amanda went into liver failure and slipped in to an 11-day coma the only chance she had of surviving was receiving a new liver. Just hours away from not making it, Amanda received a compatible liver and five years later is here to talk about it and encourage people to register as organ donors.Amanda talked how inspiring knowing Eva was and an at how she jumped at the chance to be part of her and Cyrus’ art project. Like everyone touched by Eva hopes to help continue #4Eva legacy.

After the film Nimisha Mukerji co-director of 65_RedRoses said a few words and announced that they are currently working on a new version of 65_RedRoses for the Oprah Winfrey Network. 65_RedRoses will air on OWN later this year in the US as part of Oprah’s new ‘doc club’ series. The new version will have an updated ending which will include Eva’s passing and how her legacy lives on.

All in all, the evening was a success and the message that Eva felt so passionately about rang clear—become an organ donor and save lives…or as BC Transplant so eloquently puts it “Live Life. Pass It On.”

If you missed the film last night, you can purchase the DVD off of our Hello Cool World site. If you’re interested in hosting your own community screening feel free to drop me anemail or check out a screening page here.

-Colette