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April 2012 State Rep. Sean O’Brien Page 3
Columbus77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215(614) 466-5786 Phone(614) 719-3585 Fax
State RepresentativeDenise Driehaus
Contact InformationSend me an e-mail: [email protected]
On the Web: http://www.house.state.oh.us/
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© 2011 State Representative Denise Driehaus
April 2012 State Rep. Denise D Page 2
Organ and Tissue Donors Needed in Ohio
Every donor has the potential to save eight lives, heal 50 others
The Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Caucus in
the Ohio House is spreading the word about the need
for potential donors and what you can do to help the
3,400 Ohioans who are awaiting a life-saving organtransplant.
For the 113,000 Americans on organ transplant wait-ing lists, the future rests in the hands of a compas-
sionate stranger. Each day in the United States, 18people die while waiting for the “gift of life.” Lastyear, over 28,000 transplants were performed, but
6,500 people died because the organ they needed to
survive did not become available in time. More than200 Ohioans died waiting for their second chance lastyear; that’s one Ohioan every other day.
Your commitment to be an organ and tissue donor canmean the difference between life and death for those
in need. Every donor has the potential to save eight
lives through organ donation and heal up to 50 morethrough tissue and eye donation. Organs that can be
donated include heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, small in-
testine and pancreas. Tissues include heart valves,bones, tendons, ligaments, veins, skin, nerves andcorneas.
If registering as a donor is something you have been
meaning to do, cross it off your list by signing up to-day at www.donatelifeohio.org. The site, maintained
by the Ohio Department of Health, is also a goodsource of information if you have questions about do-
nation. Ohioans can also say ‘yes’ when asked if youwant to be an organ and tissue donor at the Ohio Bu-
reau of Motor Vehicles when you receive or renew your
driver’s license or state identification card.
Tammy was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes at the
age of 17. At the time, she acknowledged her health
challenges and continued her life. Unfortunately, herhealth declined over the next 10 years and, in her
early 30’s, her kidneys began to fail under the strainof the diabetes. As a single mother who worked full-
time as a dock worker at an Ohio distributing com-
pany, Tammy’s life was put on hold when she wastold she needed dialysis to function. She endured
dialysis for a year and a half, all while working andraising her young son. As her health declined, her
doctors placed her on the waiting list for a kidney
and pancreas transplant in winter of 1998.
“This was a lonely and scary time for me,” says
Tammy. “Living on dialysis was very hard and myhealth challenges limited the activities that I coulddo with my son, friends and family. I was scared
that I wouldn’t get to see my son grow up, to see
him graduate or to teach him important things likelearning how to drive. I wanted to be able to check
those things off my list and without a transplant I
wouldn’t be able to do that.”
Luckily, in October 2001, Tammy received the call
she had been waiting for – thanks to the generosityof a donor, a kidney and pancreas were available forher. Now close to celebrating her 11-year transplant
anniversary, Tammy often reflects on the gift she
has been given.
“I want to encourage everyone to register to be or-gan and tissue donors. I hope that because people
have heard my story that they’ll see how important
it is to register. I set out to accomplish things in mylife and because of my transplant I’ve been able to
check so many things off my life list. My son gradu-
ated from high school and now I can’t wait to seehim get married and have a family some day. Howneat will it be to be a grandma? Thanks to my do-
nor, I can plan for the future. They’ve given me my
second chance at life.”
“My Second Chance at Life” One woman’s story of organ donation
