I have been working in the field of organ and tissue donation for more than 15 years and have always enjoyed the work that I do. I know donation has the power to provide a measure of comfort for donor families and can save lives for recipients. One of the things that keeps me going in this profession is the stories of how people are helped by the work Lifeline of Ohio does.
The experience I had last week has renewed my commitment to the cause. I was privileged to accompany a local donor family as they honored their son, Jeremy Doyle, for his “Gift of Life” by having his floragraph placed on the Donate Life Rose Parade® Float. Within minutes of registering at the hotel in Pasadena we met a young woman. We started talking about why we were in town and her eyes started tearing up. She said she was a liver recipient six years ago. She was so grateful for her transplant and thanked the family for Jeremy’s gift. It didn’t matter to her if Jeremy was her donor or not, she said every donor family needed to be thanked. This was just one of the many transplant recipients we met all with the same message. They are here today because of someone else’s generosity and they wanted to share this with the world. From the hotel we were taken by shuttle to a barn where the Donate Life Float was under construction. We were provided with the background on how the float idea “…One More Day” was developed. I wasn’t surprised to learn it was a recipient who had the idea, just wanting to give back. I was in awe of the size and grandeur of the float. The minute details that went into the design and decoration were absolutely amazing. Every surface of the float had to be covered with organic materials.
Read more: http://www.lifelineofohio.org/2012/01/inspired-by-the-donate-life-float/
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