Examples of selfless, life-saving giving, in combination with the reality that too many die before being the recipients of that giving, had many in tears Friday afternoon in Guelph City Hall.
A meeting room was packed as the organization Be A Donor held its Community Champion award celebration. The award is given out to local people who help raise awareness for organ and tissue donation.
Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield, Guelph MPP Liz Sandals, and Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie were among those touched by the emotion of the event. Several city councillors, police and fire officials were also on hand, as were a number of people whose lives were saved by organ donors.
Former Guelph MP Frank Valeriote, former Guelph Mayor Karen Farbridge, and former Guelph Mercury managing editor Phil Andrews were each recognized for their efforts to keep the issue of organ donation in the spotlight.
Be A Donor, supported by Trillium Gift of Life Network, works to promote organ and tissue donation locally. This is the 5th year for the celebration, which also includes the raising of a Be A Donor flag outside city hall.
Janet Parr, a volunteer with Be A Donor, has a heart donor to thank for her life. In her address, she depicted organ donors as heroic people who make the commitment to save lives.
“This year, I think we should also be celebrating those who have consented to donate their organs and tissues, as they truly are heroes,” Parr said.
When she asked those who had received organ or tissue transplants, and those who had been a donor to stand, nine people did so. Many were moved to tears. The overwhelming emotion continued throughout the 30-minute program.
As of the end of 2015, Parr said, 41,340 people in Guelph have registered to be organ and tissue donors, a marked increase from five years ago, when just 28,000 were registered donors. But 41,340 people represents just 36 per cent of the eligible population, and that is not enough for a caring city that is known for promoting the values of integrity, excellence and wellness, she she said.
Most people don’t seriously think about becoming donors until they, or someone close to them are personally touched by the need for organ or tissue donation, she said.
“So, I am challenging each of you here today to make it your mission to create a positive donation culture within our city, to make our ‘caring’ city a city where organ and tissue donation is seen as an opportunity to save someone’s life, an opportunity to be someone’s hero.”
Parr added that 56 people from Guelph have had their lives saved in the last five years by an organ donor. Nine of those donors were living ones. But in those five years, seven people died waiting. There are currently 14 people on local waiting lists for organ donations.
Valeriote said he could not imagine the degree of uncertainty and anxiety that families awaiting organ donation go through. It was after reflecting on that troubling reality that he made efforts to look further into the issue, and to examine current legislation and practices.
He was honoured Friday by Be A Donor for bringing awareness to the legislative rules governing the issue. He said the true heroes are those who persevere through the anxiety and doubt to bring the issue to the forefront.
Phil Andrews accepted his community champion award on behalf of the Guelph Mercury, saying that for his editorial team the cause of organ donation was “something that should receive attention, and should receive ample cheer-leading.”
“I’m pleased and immensely proud that the Mercury did so,” Andrews said, citing the compelling donor stories of Nicholas Lambden, Jennifer Kovach and Victor Davis, and the powerful recipient stories of people like Janet Parr, as compelling stories the Mercury needed to tell.
Farbridge was unable to attend the event. As Guelph’s mayor from 20016-2014, she helped promote organ donation through public addresses, and through her popular blog.
“This issue touches the heart of what we are as Canadians,” Longfield said, struggling through emotion to address the gathering. “We share what we have with each other.”
He added that organ donation is increasing, but not at a fast enough pace for those in need.
Sandals called Be A Donor a persistent and inspiring group that has done “an amazing job” of promoting organ and tissue donation locally.
She added that just because someone checked the donor box on their old paper driver’s license does not make them a registered donor. Both Sandals and Mayor Guthrie urged everyone to register online through a process that takes only a couple of minutes to complete.
Visit the Be A Donor Guelph website at https://beadonor.ca/community/guelph to learn more and to register.
