total time: 2.28 minutes
total words: 179
[SPEAKER_03]: Mayor, thank you so much for hosting April as Donate Life Month in this beautiful city. It's an opportunity to encourage everyone to think about, learn more, and register as an organ and tissue donor. We are the New England Organ Bank, a federally designated OPO organ procurement organization responsible for educating the New England region about organ and tissue donation and being the mechanism to identify and to get organs from one place to the other to truly help save lives. Organ donation is about life. We don't want anyone to pass away. That being said, sadly, people do pass away, and there's an opportunity to help save an individual's lives. The state plays a very important role in the organ donation process, as 99.6% of all people who do identify themselves as organ and tissue donors and register do so at the RMV. So we're here to thank the RMV as well. It's a good example. It also shows that Massachusetts and there, you specifically, have a heart. that if you no longer need your organ, someone else can truly benefit from them. And we're here today to really celebrate those wonderful stories. We've got wonderful volunteers to do so. And we're going to start with Mike Beal, who's going to share his story. Mike. Bill, excuse me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry. I've got somebody.
[SPEAKER_03]: Mike's over there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bill's right here. Sorry, Bill. Good morning. Good morning, Bill. Two years, five months, 22 days ago, an amazing young man passed away. But in death, he gave me the greatest gift that one person can pass to another. He was an organ donor. He checked that box when he went to the registry. I went from being able to stay awake maybe eight hours a day, three days a week. I spent four hours hooked up on a machine. Some days I could barely make it home because it was so exhausting. made a couple of trips to the emergency room because the dialysis pump was doing one thing and my heart was trying to do another. They didn't get along too well. Now, I'm up early in the morning. Don't want to go to bed at night and figure that I'm going to miss something. And I'm enjoying my granddaughter, my two boys, my daughter. Life is grand. And it's all because this one person made that life-changing decision. So thank you, please check the box.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: What a wonderful story. Thank you. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_03]: Bill's here for a reason, because it is a miraculous story. And that individual checked yes at the RMV, so thank you so much for sharing that. Organ and tissue donation is a voluntary choice. People can say yes, or people don't have to register. That being said, it's not a neutral choice. both the state and federal government strongly support organ donation and provide the easiest mechanism to register, and that is at the RMV here in Massachusetts. or the DMV in every 15 states. We stand uniquely apart from all other kind of medical issues in that importance of cancer research, AIDS research. We are different in two ways. A, we know what the cure is. We're not looking for a cure, and that is the opportunity to help save someone else's life through the wonderful transplantation. And second of all, when we talk about donation, we're not talking about a financial contribution. We're talking about the opportunity to register as an altruistic person who can donate. Again, we have wonderful stories about organ and tissue donation and there are two sides to that. A, the people who are alive today because of that, and B, the loved ones who are honoring their loved ones who became true heroes by registering and donating. Carol, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. My pleasure.
[SPEAKER_01]: Good morning. I'm going to begin and ask you to hold this for me. This is Ethan. And it was in April of 1999, Ethan was a beautiful 11-month-old little boy and our youngest grandson. While Ethan, his mom, dad, 3-year-old brother, my husband, and I were on a wonderful California vacation adventure, our lives changed forever in a split second of time when a limb of a giant redwood tree fell and hit him in the head. Med flight flew Ethan to Stanford University, where he received the most wonderful and compassionate care. And we continually prayed for a miracle, that he would be the same beautiful, loving little boy he was when he had woken up that Saturday morning. However, after three days, the pediatric neurosurgeon explained to us, his nana and grampy, that Ethan was about to be declared brain dead, and that his mom and dad had decided to donate his organs. I can't really explain to you our emotions. There were so many. We were crushed. And yet as parents, we were so proud of the wonderful decision made by these two heartbroken kids. And again we prayed, but this time we prayed that a donor or donors would be found. And in our pain, suddenly there was a feeling of peace. Later we were told that Ethan's liver would be going to a little boy the same age from the northwest, and his two kidneys would travel east to a 55 year old man. And immediately it felt as if the sun came out with a beautiful rainbow in the middle of a terrible storm. Finally, something wonderful was gonna come out of the tragedy we were living. And then we brought Ethan home and he was buried next to my mom. And it was sometime in the year that followed during my grief when I realized that that same Easter weekend that we were praying for Ethan to live, the families of his recipients were praying just as fervently for their loved ones to live, and Ethan was the answer to their prayers. And I realized how blessed were we to have him, even though it was such a short time. So I share this story in the hopes that if I can influence just one person on the importance and the rewards of organ donation, then his legacy lives on. It was 17 years ago, but sometimes it seems just like yesterday. And through his story, Ethan has touched more people than I will ever touch in my lifetime. So in honor of Ethan, I ask that everyone consider being an organ donor. And if you have already, please spread the word. Thank you. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: That is an amazing story. And in such a time of trouble, for parents to be able to dig so deep to come through with this organ donation is just an amazing background story on behalf of families that received the transplants.
[SPEAKER_03]: And Mayor, thank you for giving an opportunity to share these powerful stories. That is what we're here to do, for people to learn more about organ and tissue donation, and when they go to their RMV every five years to consider checking that yes box to truly help save an individual's lives. Over the past three years, we've worked very closely with the RMV, and those registration rates have increased dramatically. Now over 50% of people who come to the RMV say yes, and it's because of these miraculous stories, and the power and miracle of transplantation. We have Nico, who's also here to share his wonderful story. Nico is one of our newer volunteers, and thank you so much for sharing. I appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_04]: My father passed away in 2013, and he was a traditional pre-Protodox. Traditionally, they are supposed to donate their organs, but since then, the church has But growing up here, we were always told to not own it. So then when Pamela and I found out the reason why we shut it off, He said, well, I'll be gone, so I don't even need him. And I had to save the kid. His eye ended up saving a pastor. And he also donated his liver and two kidneys. He saved three more lives. And also donated his skin tissue, bone tissue, and his eyes. So it increased quality of life for, I believe, at least 12 people. Wonderful.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: What an amazing story, Nico. Thank you very much for sharing.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you for sharing. Wonderful. We, again, the two sides of Organ Donation, the lives that we hold as true heroes and celebrate their life. It is all about life, eh? Life being saved and be remembering those ones who sadly have passed away. I do want to say that organ donation is extremely rare. Only 1% of all deaths happen in a manner that one can become an organ donor and in all of New England last year there was only 256 cases where an individual was able to become an organ donor. philosophy or myth that organ donation is happening every day and that is not the case. And that's why when there's an opportunity to truly help save another life and to honor those loved ones, we want to take every opportunity to do so. We have two more very powerful stories to share, Maren, thank you so much. Mike Slaman is one of our great volunteers and he's going to share his story now too. Mike, thanks so much, appreciate it. Thanks, Matt.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you, Mike.
[SPEAKER_05]: Back in 1965, I was diagnosed with a very rare heart condition, and doctors at that time told me not to do strenuous exercise, and my only cure was a heart transplant. And the first human heart transplant in the world was not performed until two years later in 1967. I was able to survive over the next 42 years because of cardiac advancements through the Mass General Hospital. And then on May 29, 2007, my wife and I were about to celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary in the Mass General, and a doctor came in and said, we have a donor heart. The next day, I received a heart, and my donor saved eight other lives. My wife and I have become very good friends with our donors. We've vacationed together in many areas. And I just want to say how glad I am to be a volunteer. Every time we tell our stories and if we inspire people and if they become donors, we can save many lives. Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you so much for the work you do every day.
[SPEAKER_05]: Thank you.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Those that may be in need at some point. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_03]: Additionally, you are more likely to need a transplant than to become an organ donor. In fact, research in Maryland has indicated you're three times more likely to need a transplant than to become an organ donor. But that wonderful gift, and these are good examples of individuals personally touched. I also do want to address some of the myths and misconceptions. There's great TV shows out there with Grey's Anatomy and all these great things that have police and fire and telling really compelling stories because it really is. Someone's life can mean someone else's saving someone's life after they passed away. That being said, organ donation is extremely well thought out. If you are in a coma, you're not being considered as an organ and tissue donor. Unfortunately, organ donation is only considered after you have died, so had a heart attack or brain death. Additionally, police, fire, EMT do a wonderful job. They have no decision making process in the organ donation process. Their only job is to get you from an incident to the hospital as quickly as possible. The emergency room doctors and nurses do a wonderful job to help save lives. Those are different individuals than individuals who make the organ donation process. They have no say in that process. So we want to make sure people feel confident registering as an organ and tissue donor, realizing that first and foremost, life is what it is. Hospital's main job is to help save lives. Again, age is not a parameter. People can become organ donors in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. We ask everyone to consider registering as an organ and tissue donor. And not lastly, but another one of our wonderful volunteers, Nancy is here to share her powerful story. Thank you so much.
[SPEAKER_02]: My son, Beau, at 25, had gone through years of difficulty with ADHD, which ended up getting him taken out of school, public school, and I went to Mass General as a med tech. My career has been in laboratory and the overnight shift, and I went to Mass General to get him help. It turned out that he got through all the programs, did really well, became a plumber, was moving out of my house and at a party he had a sudden, without warning, a carotid tear at a party and fell without a heartbeat. And my particular case was that it was called donation after cardiac death because he had brain activity, but his brain was swelling. And so I had this unique opportunity of having worked at Mass General to meet him and his friends in the neuro ICU and ask for a ceremony, a day to say goodbye in a way unique to us that helped me in the healing process. We went down to the OR. His sisters came from California and his sister Emmy said, I don't want Bo to be alone. I want to be with him. So we played the Beatles White Album in the OR to comfort us. and give us this time to say goodbye in a way that was family together. So I had to make the decision to remove his support because eventually he probably would have succumbed, the brain would have swollen enough to cut off his breathing. But instead, because I had worked the night shift and seen the organ bank come in, I had enough experience to go to the nursing staff when I could see he wouldn't survive and say, I want to be a donor. I want him to be a donor. I can do this for him. And the last thing I'll say is that he got into public school and I went to Stoneham High and as we're driving up for senior exams, which was surprising, he graduated and was looking for a new life. I said to him, you know Beau, you've had more help than everyone else in town put together. Someday you have to give back. He turned to me with his big smile and said, don't worry ma, someday I will. So what I try to do is say that everyone has the opportunity. to live a life of giving. And I've just been informed by the organ bank he helped 51 people directly with the leg bones, with a little patch of skin, with his kidneys, with his corneas, with vascular tissue. And so I can truly say that we have done an honor to his life to make him effectively still helping people and still present.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Bo lives on?
[SPEAKER_03]: I also want to make sure that we acknowledge the wonderful work of the RMV mayor. Thank you so much for your time doing this. The RMV each and every day has the opportunity to verbally present the question, would you like to register as an organ and tissue donor? Again, it is a voluntary gift, but thanks so much to Erin Devaney and her wonderful staff throughout the state for presenting it. And thank you so much for this opportunity to talk about it.
[Stephanie Muccini Burke]: Thank you very much. After hearing all of these stories from both sides, Certainly I send out a challenge to the citizens of Medford and beyond to sign up at the RMV. Sign up, get your heart, put on your license so that everyone's aware that you are willing to give life into the future. And with that being said, I have a proclamation on behalf of the city of Medford presented to the New England Organ Bank. Whereas there are more than 121,000 Americans with more than 5,000 in New England and more than 3,000 in Massachusetts who are currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. And whereas there are over 1 million life-enhancing tissue transplants each year that are made possible by the generous donations of cornea, bone, skin, or other tissues. And whereas, we can all help to save someone's life and benefit up to 50 recipients by signing up to become an organ and tissue donor, by enrolling in the Massachusetts donor registry when we apply for or renew our driver's license, or by registering online at www.donatelifenewengland.org, And whereas Massachusetts is home to pioneering the efforts of many of the world's first organ transplant surgeon, it is fitting that Massachusetts continue its unique leadership role and join in the national goal of signing up 50% of our driving population to become donors, and is dedicated to making it fast and easy to sign up to save a life through our registry of motor vehicles. And whereas this observance pays tribute to organ and tissue donors and their families, whose decision to donate life enables others to receive life-saving organs and tissues for transplant. Now, therefore, Stephanie M. Burke, Mayor of Medford, Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim April 2016 to be Donate Life Month and urge all citizens of Medford to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance. Thank you very much.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you for mentioning the website, donatelifeinnewengland.org, you can register as well.
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total time: 2.28 minutes total words: 179 |
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