Kathy Vochoska

Would you be willing to save someone’s life if you had the chance?  The fact is, we all have the opportunity to save up to EIGHT people’s lives … yes, eight! How? Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor.  It is simple and it only takes a few minutes to register.   As the annual Donate Life Run/Walk approaches, my goal is to challenge each of you to 1) Register to be an organ, eye and tissue donor 2) forward this to your friends and family and encourage them to register.  Will you help me?

In 2012, my son woke up with swollen ankles and 14 days later, he was on dialysis and in need of a transplant.  To say we were shocked is an understatement…we had no prior history of kidney disease on either side of our family so it was a complete shock to all of us.  As a mom, I was devastated…crushed and felt so helpless.  To see my son attached to a machine that was literally keeping him alive was one of the hardest days of my life.  When I heard that you could actually donate a kidney to someone, I was on a mission to help my son.  After months of intense testing, I was given the green light and fortunately, I was able to help my son and donate one of my kidneys to him.  It has been such a blessing to see the change a transplant has made in his life.  He is happily married, has a little boy and a little girl arriving May 2018!

Like most challenges in life, it doesn’t “hit” you deeply until it happens to someone you love and care about.    Donation matters…it saves lives and heals entire families…not only the person who receives the gift of life but their families and friends as well.  Please, please register RIGHT NOW…perhaps you can be someone’s miracle one day and give him or her the gift of life!