Two Tissue Transplant Doctors & Cornea & Tissue Donors to be Honored on the 2021 Donate Life Floral Sculpture ‘Community of...
23 Dezember 2020 - 9:57PM
Business Wire
Honoree’s Stories Highlight the
Transformational Power of Tissue Donation as Well as the Important
Work of Donation Health Care Professionals in Healing the Lives of
Many
Two tissue transplant professionals and 13 tissue and cornea
donors will be honored on the 2021 Donate Life floral sculpture,
“Community of Life,” which will be part of the Tournament of Roses’
2021 TV special, “The Rose Parade’s New Year Celebration presented
by Honda,” airing on New Year’s Day.
The 2021 Donate Life floral sculpture, “Community of Life” is
the centerpiece of a national effort to reach a broad audience with
the powerful message that organ, eye and tissue donation saves and
heals lives. The cornea and tissue donors represented on the 2021
Donate Life floral sculpture include men, women and children whose
generous gifts have healed hundreds of grateful recipients who have
regained their sight, restored mobility, healed their burns or
overall enjoy a better quality of life, thanks to cornea and tissue
transplants.
Millions of people are healed every year, and thousands of lives
are saved thanks to cornea and tissue donors. Tissue from one
single donor can heal the lives of more than 75 people. Among the
tissues that can heal lives are heart valves, skin grafts for burn
survivors, bone, ligament and nerve allografts, and many more.
The 2021 Donate Life floral sculpture, “Community of Life” is
honoring two health care professionals who specialize in tissue
transplants to heal lives:
- Dr. Patrick Smock, M.D., orthopedic surgeon and tissue
recipient, honored by Axogen. Dr. Patrick Smock, an orthopedic
surgeon specializing in peripheral nerve surgery and the treatment
of upper extremity injuries, is not only a steward of the gift of
tissue donation, but a very grateful recipient. In 2014 Dr. Smock
suffered what he thought was a fairly simple thumb dislocation and
ligament tear while mountain biking. He underwent surgery to repair
the ligament damage and remove a neuroma, receiving a donor’s nerve
allograft. Thanks to this surgery, Dr. Smock can continue
performing surgical procedures with an even greater appreciation
for the impact a nerve injury can have on a patient’s life. Today
he uses donated processed human nerve allograft in his own practice
to help patients with nerve injuries and shares his own
experience.
- Dr. Paul Stelzer, M.D., surgeon and professor of
cardiovascular surgery, honored by CryoLife. Dr. Stelzer began
his work with donor human valves doing aortic homograft and then
pulmonary autograft surgery in 1985 at the University of Oklahoma
Health Sciences Center. After returning to New York in 1989, he
worked at Lenox Hill Hospital and then at Beth Israel Hospital
before going to Mount Sinai Hospital in 2007 where he is professor
of cardiovascular surgery. His series of over 730 Ross operations
is one of the largest in the world. The Ross patients are all
indebted to the families who donated the pulmonary valves, which
are an essential part of that surgery.
Lifesaving and healing tissue and cornea transplants would not
be possible without those donors who said “YES” to tissue donation.
There are 13 tissue donors being honored with a floragraph on the
2021 Donate Life Rose Parade floral sculpture. They are:
- Mikhaill Stewart, 28, from Richland, Washington,
sponsored by Axogen.
- David Christopher Money, 23, from Mechanicsburg, Ohio,
sponsored by Community Tissue Services.
- Francis “Frank” James Cox, 55, from Salt Lake City,
Utah, sponsored by Donate Life California.
- Jacob Matthew Thompson, 21, from Denver, Colorado,
sponsored by Donor Alliance.
- Joe Chairez, 25, from Sacramento, California, sponsored
by Donor Network West.
- Chantal Martinez-Murray, 39, from Bakersfield,
California, sponsored by JJ’s Legacy.
- Andrea Ann Doyens, 45, from Jacksonville, Florida,
sponsored by Legacy Donor Services Foundation.
- Taylor Evans, 22, from Easley, South Carolina, sponsored
by LifeLink Foundation.
- Leia Parker, 2, from San Diego, California, sponsored by
Lifesharing.
- Shawn Elizabeth Guillot, 15, from Donaldsonville,
Louisiana, sponsored by Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency.
- Alec Michael Murray, 13, from Reno, Nevada, sponsored by
Nevada Donor Network.
- James Tecce, 24, from Malden, Massachusetts, sponsored
by New England Donor Services.
- Thomas Vanderhorst, 47, from Tehachapi, California,
sponsored by OneLegacy.
The Donate Life Rose Parade floral sculpture, produced by
OneLegacy, is made possible thanks to more than 14 sponsors.
As the world’s most visible campaign to inspire organ, eye and
tissue donation, the Donate Life Rose Parade Experience inspires
viewers to help the over 1 million people in need of organ, eye or
tissue transplants each year. Register today to become an organ,
eye or tissue donor by visiting DonateLife.net. To learn more about
the 2021 Donate Life floral sculpture honorees, visit the Donate
Life float website here.
About Donate Life America
Donate Life America is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit alliance of
national organizations and state teams across the United States
committed to increasing organ, eye and tissue donation. Donate Life
America manages and promotes the national brand for donation,
Donate Life, and assists Donate Life State Teams and national
partners in facilitating high-performing donor registries;
developing and executing effective multi-media donor education
programs; and motivating the American public to register now as
organ, eye and tissue donors.
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Ross Goldberg 818-597-8453, x-1 ross@kevinross.net
Tania Llavaneras 213-503-9285 tllavaneras@onelegacy.org