by Mater Alexander (Liver Recipient)
My name is Mater and I love to sing. I am a Christian soloist with a music ministry and love to tell people about the love of Jesus Christ. I have been in the prisons throughout Ohio, and have had a ministry in eight nursing homes within the inner city. I sing for church services, retreats and fund raisers. My music is a very important part of my life, but because of serious illnesses I have had to put my music on hold at various times and three years before my transplant, I thought I would never sing again.
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When you’re a football player, getting knocked around comes with the territory. But, when Brandon Krushall, a student at Kansas Wesleyan University, sustained an injury to his shoulder in the fall season of 2010, he didn’t think it would lead to surgery.
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I was a juvenile diabetic, so I always was very aware of my health. I was able to stay pretty healthy until I was 26. That’s when my kidneys started to fail.
In 1987, I began peritoneal dialysis treatments to do the work my kidneys could no longer do. Dialysis was horrible for me. I suffered constant fatigue, nausea, and swelling and eventually found it very difficult to continue working. When my doctors began talking about a kidney transplant, my husband and I decided to return home to Columbus, with our three very young children, to have the extra support of my family.
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By Afatamah McNair, liver recipient
It started with itching on the palms of my hands and the bottoms of my feet. This strange sensation led me to believe I was having some sort of reaction to pesticides. I went to my doctor and was stunned to learn that the itching was a symptom of an auto-immune disease.
As a result of this condition, my liver was failing and I would need a transplant to survive. Read More »
One local biker who has been touched by Live On. Ride On. is Aaron Shirk. Each year he promotes the campaign with his “Duane Shirk Memorial Poker Run” to honor his father, who gave the ‘Gift of Life.’ Here’s what Aaron has to say about his father and what riding means to him: Read More »
By Rob West, Liver Recipient
Have you ever asked yourself how you would do things differently if you were given a second chance? This was something I never asked until about two years ago but now I am living out the answer to that question. Read More »
By Diane Tefft Young, lung transplant recipient
Reflections on receiving a lung transplant:
In late autumn 2004, I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This typically fatal restrictive lung disease involves the progressive scarring and subsequent stiffening of the lung which causes breathing to become increasingly more difficult. Although I became tearful when I heard the diagnosis that I would live for only three to five more years – in that moment the time span appeared to be lengthy. Read More »
By Terri Louder, tissue recipient
I’ve always taken good care of my teeth, went to the dentist regularly and never had any major issues. Over the years, I started experiencing painful sensitivity and my dentist told me my gums were receding. Receding gums not only cause discomfort, but can lead to tooth root decay. I was told I would need a gum graft. Read More »
By Laci Thomas, donor family member
On June 13, 2009, exactly 15 weeks before our wedding, my 22-year-old fiancé, Danny Thomas, was killed in a motorcycle accident.
Danny and I met at Westland High School in Columbus and were high school sweethearts. He was an amazing man, father and friend with a huge smile and a heart of gold. Read More »
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