***
My girlfriend and I signed up for a walk with our local UAW sisters to support the efforts of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). It is a few weeks away, but something to look forward to. That is one thing about my company and the UAW that impresses me, they have so many groups that they support. Be it "Toys for Tots," helping victims of disasters, sending support to soliders in Iraq, etc.
***
I'll try to make a long story short. It was about a man, Steven Dulka who in 1997 had contracted a virus that caused Cardiomyopathy, a disease that enlarges and weakens the heart muscles. Eventually his condition had gotten worse, and the doctors informed him that the only thing that would keep him alive would be a heart transplant.
In 1999 Steven had met a woman named Deidre that he fell in love with. Last year on her birthay he asked his doctor to let him out of the hospital so that he could take her to a nice restaurant and ask her to marry him. He did not get the chance to ask her that evening because he collapsed shortly after arriving at the restaurant. Eventually he did get to ask her, and a Oct 2, 2004 wedding date was set.
On October 2, the day of his wedding, shortly before noon he received a call. The call was from his contact at the transplant center that stated, "We've got a heart for you if you want to come and get it." They quickly got married ahead of schedule that day and he had his heart transplant.
Can you imagine actually "getting a heart" and in a sense giving your heart away in the same day?
Dulka said in the article, "I know that the heart came from someone who had an unfortunate accident, but I also know it was from someone who wanted someone else to live and benefit from their gift of life."
In April 2005, the Chrysler Group, along with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Compuware and the UAW, launched a three-year campaign to increase awareness and organ donation registrations. Approximately 89,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant. Each day, about 74 people receive an organ transplant, but 17 people die waiting for transplants that cannot take place because of the shortage of donated organs. For more information or to register as an organ donor, go to www.iaod.orgDulka also said "We could save so many more people, if more people would just say yes."
This story was on the news and in newspapers around the country, but the story is about a man that works within my corporation. I do not know him personally, but I just felt so touched by the article that I knew it was worth repeating.
Best Wishes to the Mr. & Mrs. and their new lease on life!
2 comments:
No disrespect taken, and thanks for the factoid. When I was in the military I had a boyfriend that was deployed to Panama during that Conflict. That was a long time ago and I still remember him leaving, but I can't for the life of me remember his name. Isn't that horrible? It was Jerry something or the other.
My biggest regret about going into the military is that I didn't take advantage of going to college while I was in there. Six months after getting out of the military I was pregnant with my daughter. I love my children and don't regret that I had them, and I am thankful for the experiences that I had in the military, but I wish that I would have taken more time to go to college in those earlier years. Now I am a single parent with three kids and the most I can take is one class per term, and that is not easy with working a sometimes more than full time job. I don't know you, but I can tell you that if I had to do things over there is a pretty good chance that I would have gone straight to college out of highschool. Unfortunately I can't turn back time, and I can only try to accomplish it now as best I can without putting too much stress on my family. So I'll be 60 years old and in college, oh well, this is life. lol.
Post a Comment