Erlanger to Raise 'Donate Life' Flag, Tennessee


On Friday, April 1, officials with Erlanger will raise a “Donate Life” flag in the hospital courtyard to recognize and honor 37 Erlanger patients who gave the ultimate gift of life as organ donors in 2010. Thanks to the organ donations of these 37 individuals, 138 lives were saved last year.

At 1 p.m., Erlanger will join thousands of hospitals and organizations across the nation by flying the flag in recognition of Donor Awareness Month, and in honor of the uncountable lives touched by organ, eye and tissue donation. Representatives from the Erlanger Health System, Tennessee Donor Services, Donate Life, Erlanger’s transplant program and other medical professionals will join Katherine Kelly, a dialysis patient currently awaiting a kidney transplant, and Robert Starnes, father of an organ donor.

Nine-year-old Jessie Starnes was an organ donor in 2008. According to Robert Starnes and Lisa Rousseau, their daughter’s donation was a way to honor her life. “Jessie was always a giving, caring child, loaning things to other people, even if it was her last one. It was only fitting that we donate her organs, almost hearing in her sweet voice saying, ‘go ahead, you can borrow mine,’” her parents related.

Currently there are more than 110,000 people in the United States waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and more than 2,400 of those live in Tennessee. Every 18 minutes a patient on the waiting list will die, and every 10 minutes a new name will be added.

“We are pleased to join with partners like Erlanger to honor those who gave the unselfish gift of life to others through donation,” said Bridgette Fredenberg, Community Services Director of Tennessee Donor Services, “Hopefully the nationwide display of flags will cause people to take notice and then take action by signing up to be an organ, eye and tissue donor.”