KDSN RADIO News
Sioux City ceremony recognizes National Donate Life Month
April is National Donate Life Month, and MercyOne Medical Center in Sioux City held its annual ceremony Wednesday to raise an organ donor flag to remind everyone of the importance of donation.
The Iowa Donor Network’s John Jorgensen talked about the past year. “A hundred and 30 organ donors generously gave 387 organs for transplant. That was a record year for organ donation in our state,” he says. “Thousands more lives were healed through the gifts of tissue 1,118 tissue donations in Iowa,” Jorgensen says it was the second straight year for record tissue donations.
Jennifer McDonald shared the story of her husband Steven, who donated his organs. “My husband’s death was sudden and traumatic. On July 2, 2022, Steve took his own life. His passing has been a profound loss for our family and friends, and we have found solace in knowing that his gift of life has saved others. Steve was able to donate his heart and both kidneys to three recipients,” McDonald says.
She says she found out firsthand how important organ donations can be. “I have had the opportunity to correspond via letters with one of Steve’s recipients, Michael, a 54-year-old former U.S. Marshal who was in need of a new heart and received that gift of life with Steve’s donation,” she says. “This is something that Michael is truly grateful for. Steve was always a giver, wanting to help, and it only made sense for our family to allow him to keep doing that after his passing.”
The Iowa Donor Network says there are 600 people in Iowa and more than 104-thousand Americans overall currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. You can register as an organ donor at iowadonornetwork.org.
(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)
