Beaumont Transplant Recipients to Join in Donate Life Capitol Celebration

It will be a day filled with sadness and hope. This Thursday, hundreds from across Michigan will gather at the Capitol building in Lansing to promote organ, tissue and eye donation.

Events include a march to the Capitol.

Stacy Reed, 44, says she’ll definitely be there. She’s making the trip from her home in Bay City. This inaugural event, dubbed the “Donate Life Capitol Celebration” is being organized by the Gift of Life Michigan. The former Rochester Hills resident is passionate about organ donor awareness. Almost ten months ago, she was the recipient of a liver transplant at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.

“Every day I look at that scar and I’m so thankful for the gift I’ve received. Thanks to someone else, I’ve got a second chance at life,” explains Reed.

And Charles Brown, 60, of Southfield, will be there too. A Beaumont patient, he’s one of the 2,390 state residents on the waiting list to receive a kidney transplant. Because of his kidney disease, he spends 12 hours per week undergoing dialysis.

Says Brown, “I want people to know, a person with kidney disease is employable and can be a valued asset in their community. I want to share my voice in Lansing. It’s important to keep the message of organ donor awareness in front of folks.”

According to Gift of Life Michigan, key events will mark the day:

• A march to the Capitol steps by donor family members, transplant recipients and patients awaiting transplants. This procession of honor will symbolize both the miracle of donation and its ability to save lives, along with the incredible need in Michigan. Statewide, nearly 3,000 critically ill people are waiting for a life-saving transplant. Regretfully, there are not enough organs.
• Sec. of State Ruth Johnson will address the group to discuss her decision this year to have branch clerks directly ask customers if they’d like to join the Michigan Organ Donor Registry. Since the practice began in April, registrations at Secretary of State branch offices have seen double-digit increases every month.

Susan Walker, transplant social worker, Beaumont Health System, has been working to spread the word about the Donate Life Capitol Celebration among patients and staff. In fact, a bus will pickup attendees at the Northwood Shopping Center on Thursday morning.

“It’s exciting to be part of this one-day organ awareness rally,” says Walker. ”Participants like Charles and Stacy give this event a face, a voice.”

Beaumont, Royal Oak works closely with Gift of Life Michigan, the state’s federally designated organ and tissue recovery organization that acts as the intermediary among donors, hospital staff and transplant teams. It also collaborates with the Michigan Hospital Association Keystone Center for Patient Safety & Quality through the MHA Keystone: Gift of Life Initiative.

Beaumont's transplant team performs liver transplant.

According to Gift of Life Michigan, each organ and tissue donor can save the lives of up to eight people and improve the lives of 50 or more. More than 3,000 Michigan residents are in need of a life-saving transplant. For more information on Gift of Life Michigan, including online donor registration, visit http://www.giftoflifemichigan.org/become_a_donor/.

Beaumont’s multi-organ transplant program offers the latest technology and minimally invasive surgical techniques provided by highly trained surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and technicians. With four decades of experience and thousands of successful kidney transplants, Beaumont’s program offers:

• world-renowned surgeons offering live donor surgery
• fellowship trained transplant nephrologists providing expert immunologic management
• individualized immunosuppression, including steroid-free protocols
• personalized care coordinated and expedited by nurse navigators
• outstanding outcomes

Beaumont launched its liver transplant program in 2010.