NYU Lutheran and LiveOnNY host first annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day

Saving lives is their goal.

LiveOnNY, the nonprofit organization dedicated to the recovery of organs and tissue for transplant in the greater New York metropolitan area, held its first annual Organ Donor Enrollment Day on Tuesday, October 6 at NYU Lutheran Medical Center, 150 55th Street, allowing attendees to sign up to become organ donors and learn the importance of doing so.

Chair of the Organ Donor Council at NYU Lutheran, Dr. Anthony Geraci, said that the day was a personal one for him and volunteers.

“My father was one of the earliest kidney recipients in the United States,” Geraci recalled. “It was during the 1970s and he did very well. He received it in his early thirties. He died about three years ago and when he died, he was one of the longest living kidney recipients in the world. The message is the gift of life can really be persistent. He lived probably 45 years when he wouldn’t have.”

The sister of Jose Hernandez, vice president of clinical operations at NYU Lutheran, also benefited from organ donors. “My sister was a kidney recipient. She was on dialysis for almost seven years and none of our family was matches so we were dependent on her getting a donor. At the last minute, she got a donor,” he said. “You never know when someday you or someone else you love could be found in that same situation.”

Thanks to organ donation, Cris Dopher, a volunteer for LiveOnNY who had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a rare and potentially terminal lung disease, also has a new lease on life. Dopher received a double lung transplant at Duke University in December 2013.

“Working with LiveOnNY is the only way I can even begin to pay to the debt I have for my donor and my donor’s family,” he said. “They made a hard decision in a time of crisis, and I think the right one, and I’m here because of that.”

But it’s not just recipients who are committed to the cause. Volunteer Samantha Prag’s  sister, Cynthia, who had just turned 22, was killed in a car crash over a year ago. A registered organ donor, Cynthia spent a week in a coma.

According to Samantha, the nature of her death allowed her to donate. “I’m so proud of my sister for saving people’s lives,” she said. “As of right now, we haven’t had any contacts from the recipients, but we know that she did save a few people’s lives and improved some people’s lives with tissue and bone marrow transplants.”

President and COO of NYU Lutheran Medical Center Claudia Caine said she was thrilled to hold a day for such a significant cause. “At Lutheran, we celebrate all sorts of cultural events, but this is one of the most important events to us because this saves live,” she said. “In my mind, everyone should sign an organ donor card because if we all did, we would save thousands of lives in this country.”

In New York, the need is particularly great. “Nine out 10 people support organ donation but New York is one of the lowest in donor registries in the nation,” said Jeff Lewis, director of clinical operations for LiveOnNY.

For more information on how to become an organ donor, visit www.liveonny.org.