Third Annual Gift of Life Celebration Honors Organ and Tissue Donors
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 4, 2014) — Thanks to an anonymous organ donor, 18-year-old college student Lynsey Farrar was given a second chance at life after her liver was destroyed by a deadly genetic disease. Last weekend, Farrar joined more than a hundred organ donor friends and family members in honoring their loved ones at the third annual Gift of Life Celebration, hosted by UK HealthCare and Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA).
"It is truly a miracle that I am here today," Farrar said in her remarks to the crowd inside UK's Pavilion A auditorium. "I speak for all recipients when I say that there are no words to describe how we all are very blessed to be given a second chance."
Farrar also had another personal connection to the Gift of Life Celebration – her grandmother, who donated her organs in 1996, was one of the 40 new names read aloud during the official ceremony and unveiled on the Gift of Life wall, located inside Pavilion A adjacent to the Gill Heart Institute. To date, UK and KODA have honored 320 organ donors on the Gift of Life Wall.
The ceremony also featured remarks by UK HealthCare's Chief Administrative Officer Ann Smith; Dr. Andrew Bernard, UK's director of trauma and acute care surgery and the chair of the Donation and Transplantation Action Council; and Donna Slone, client services coordinator for KODA at UK HealthCare.
“The Gift of Life Memorial Wall stands as a permanent tribute to those who have given hope and new life through organ and tissue donation,” said Slone, who helps plan the memorial event each year. “Although donation is a private and confidential act, we see more and more families publicly sharing their decisions by allowing their loved ones’ names to be added to the wall.”
Every year, an estimated 6,000 people die while waiting for an organ transplant. More than 124,000 Americans are currently waiting for donated organs, including nearly 1,000 people in Kentucky. Their names are on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waiting list. The level of necessity, blood type, and size are among several criteria that determine who can receive a donated organ. One individual donor can provide organs and tissue for nearly 50 people in need.
Farrar, who described herself as a 'voice' for organ donation, said that when her time comes, she wants to give back and help one of the thousands of people waiting on their second chance.
"I myself am now an organ donor," she said. "When it's my time, I want to be a hero and change others' lives just like my donor changed mine."
Although hospitals are obligated by law to identify potential donors and inform families of their right to donate, anyone can sign up to become an organ donor by joining the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry. The registry is a safe and secure electronic database where a person’s wishes regarding donation will be carried out as requested.
To join the registry, visit www.donatelifeky.org or sign up when you renew your driver’s license. The donor registry enables family members to know that you chose to save and enhance lives through donation. Kentucky’s “First Person Consent” laws mean that the wishes of an individual on the registry will be carried out as requested.
If your loved one was an organ donor at UK Chandler Hospital and you would like to have him or her honored on the Gift of Life wall in the future, contact Donna Slone at (859) 323-7343 or donna.slone.koda@uky.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Allison Perry, (859) 323-2399 or allison.perry@uky.edu