Lives are saved every day because of organ donors. Donor Alliance says right now 68 percent of Coloradans have registered to be organ and tissue donors. Connor Randall is a two-time organ recipient who says the organization changed and saved his life. At three months old, Randall was different than so many infants his own age. “They listened to my heart and said something isn’t right and that I should go to Children’s,” said Randall. He had to have heart transplant surgery.“That heart came from a little boy from Texas,” Randall said. “His family was able to give me the gift of life through their tragedy.”
Recent Media Coverage
Donate Life hides hearts around local park for organ donation awareness – KKCO 11 – Grand Junction, CO
April 13, 2018
You may see some hearts around Lincoln Park and Suplizio Field Friday. They’re part of Donate Life’s campaign to raise awareness about organ donation. Donate Life, along with some volunteers, hid about 50 hearts around the park. One volunteer was Diane Eckert. Her brother died in a car crash about five years ago. He was able to save five people with his organ and tissue donations.
National Donate Life Month 2018 – KREX 5 – Grand Junction, CO
April 13, 2018
Donor Alliance’s John Romero stopped by the KREX 5 studio to talk about organ, eye, and tissue donation, and to share his personal story as a kidney recipient.
Show Your Heart – Donate Life Colorado – Front Range Focus – Denver, CO
April 8, 2018
Lori Lynn Barker talks with Andrea Smith and Randy Schrantz with Donor Alliance. Hear the story of Juniper, 4 year old heart recipient.
Hidden hearts have special message for National Donate Life Month – Fox 31 – Denver, CO
March 31, 2018
If you happen to find a hidden heart in the next month, it’s a reminder that April is National Donate Life Month. Currently, more than 116,000 people are on a waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant. The Donor Alliance hopes the hearts — hidden all around the metro area — help persuade more people to talk about organ donation and eventually sign up to be donors. One of those hiding hearts outside a library in Aurora was four-year-old Juniper Gelrod and her grandfather, Randy Schrantz.
April is National Donate Life Month and you can help save a life – ABC 7 – Denver, CO
March 31, 2018
April is National Donate Life Month. A time to bring awareness to those waiting for a transplant and to honor those who have given the Gift of Life. Donor Alliance’s Andrea Smith and Advocate Stephanie Carlson Kelly joined ABC 7’s Eric Lupher to share how you can #ShowYourHeart for National Donate Life Month.
April is National Donate Life Month and you can help save a life – KMGH 7 – Denver, CO
March 31, 2018
April is National Donate Life Month. Andrea Smith with Donor Alliance visited the Denver 7 studios to talk about awareness and how the public can help. Donor Alliance volunteer Stephanie Carlson Kelly also visited Denver 7 to tell her personal story as the daughter of a lung transplant recipient.
Organ Donation Task Force – KCWY 13 – Casper, WY
March 12, 2018
Wyoming lawmakers hope to save lives by creating an organ donation promotion task force.
The Gift of Life: Woman Shares Story of Son Donating His Organs – KREX – Grand Junction, CO
February 14, 2018
They say there’s no greater gift, than the gift of life. “It’s the beautiful thing that’s come out of this tragedy, really it’s the only good thing,” said Allison McKissen, whose son donated his organs. On August 11, 2016 Allison McKissen lost her son Tanner in an auto accident. “He went too fast around a corner, over corrected and rolled. He was ejected from the vehicle,” McKissen said. It was the hardest thing McKissen has ever had to go through. Despite all the pain, she says there’s one thing that’s gotten her through her darkest times. “It’s wonderful knowing that he lives on through other people and that they’re able to come home to their families,” said McKissen.
Man’s life saved twice by organ donations – 9News – Denver, CO
February 14, 2018
National Donor Day is Wednesday – Fox 31 – Denver, CO
February 13, 2018
In Colorado, nearly 2,500 people are on the waiting list for a lifesaving transplant. Rod Clark was one of them. Back in 2011, the local law enforcement officer went to the doctor for what he thought was a lingering chest cold, but he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs, a condition that could be fatal in three to five years.
Heart recipients celebrate Donate Life Night with the Casper Coyotes – Casper Journal – Casper, WY
January 24, 2018
Anthony McCumber and Jason Wynia dropped the puck Jan. 20 celebrating Donate Life Night, and beginning the Casper Coyotes vs. Colorado Jr. Eagles Hockey Game, an honor earned after a difficult journey during which they each received a gift of life. Both are Wyoming heart transplant recipients.
Durango woman’s lungs donated to save another’s life – Durango Herald – Durango, CO
January 22, 2018
There’s a famous quote from author Ralph Waldo Emerson that many advocates and people forever changed by organ and tissue donations often cite, which says, “The only gift is a portion of thyself.” The line, taken from Emerson’s 1844 essay “Gifts,” is a reminder that the best gifts don’t cost any money. Instead, one’s time, compassion and kindness – truly one’s “self” – is the ultimate act of love. For former Durango resident and Park Elementary School teacher Beth Brunso, who died in December 2016, and the woman who would go on to receive her lungs, and subsequently, a second chance at life, the sentiment becomes even more literal and meaningful.
Read the story here.