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Honoring those who give the gift of life

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For National Donor Day, a columnist shares how organ donation saved her life

Organ donors are ordinary people who make an extraordinary impact. Each day I’m personally reminded of how one decision can change a life. My life was saved because of my donor, who made my double-lung transplant possible five years ago. Each breath I take reminds me of the miraculous gift of organ donation.

For me, National Donor Day on Feb. 14 is a time to remember what I’ve been through and reflect on where I am now. It’s a sobering thought that I would have died without my organ donor. I was in respiratory failure nearly six years ago, and time was running out. The medications had stopped working, and I was getting sicker while in the hospital. The call that saved my life came just at the right time. Read the full story in Cystic Fibrosis News Today.

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On National Donor Day, organ recipient breaks down misinformation

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On New Year’s Day, USC junior Selah Kitchiner floated down Colorado Boulevard on a conveyance both dazzling and ephemeral. The purple and gold 2022 Donate Life Rose Parade float was covered in roses, sunflowers and seaweed with Venetian columns and arches that rose two stories. Kitchiner was just above street level, posing as a gondolier, oar in hand. No rowing was required, though she did plenty of waving during her hour-long Rose Parade ride.

“I waved to anybody with a USC chair or sweatshirt, anybody who made eye contact,” Kitchiner said. “If a spectator was daydreaming and they saw me wave at them, they would kind of snap out of it.” Read the full story.

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