Craig Howell GIVING HOPE – Employees of WVU Medicine Weirton Medical Center were joined by guests Tuesday afternoon for a service in observance of Donate Life Month, stressing the importance of organ donation.

WEIRTON – Area residents, medical professionals and other guests gathered at WVU Medicine Weirton Medical Center Tuesday to remember the importance of organ donation.

Held in observance of National Donate Life Month, participants, including some who have donated or been the recipient of a donation, discussed the importance of donation in providing hope.

“We’ve been doing this for many years,” noted Kelli McCoy, communications director for WVU Medicine Weirton. “It’s a very important day for us here at the hospital.”

According to the Center for Organ Recovery and Education, there are more than 100,000 people currently awaiting an organ transplant in the United States, with approximately 500 of them living in West Virginia.

A new person’s name is added to the national transplant waiting list every eight minutes, with the organization noting a single organ donor has the potential to save the lives of eight people, with a tissue donor helping 75 people.

Seated in the hospital’s atrium, attendees heard from two individuals who have received organ donations locally, including one — identified as Sara — who, in 2018, thought she was dealing with a case of diverticulitis, only to later find out she had liver disease.

“By the time we had an answer, my life had completely changed,” she said.

She spent four years on the transplant list as a single mother, worrying whether she would get to see her child grow up. On Sept. 24, 2023, she received the call.

“I had my bags packed. I had hope,” she said, but explained that hope dwindled as, when she got to the hospital, she had spiked a fever and was diagnosed with respiratory syncytial virus. A second call came soon after, but she would have to pass as she still had not recovered from her illness. When the third call came, she said she knew she had to take the chance.

Sara said she understands how important it is to provide hope to others, and how fortunate she was to have been able to get not one, but three calls with a matching donor.

“It’s easy to forget how powerful that can be,” she said.

Guests also heard from Lisa Smith, an employee of the hospital, who was diagnosed in 2012 with polycystic kidney disease — a condition that usually is genetic, though she said no one in her family had ever had it.

She was fortunate, she said, in that someone she knew turned out to be a full match for donation, receiving the new kidney in March 2016. Her journey continues, though, as a checkup in January 2024 showed the donated kidney was being rejected.

“I had eight wonderful years with my kidney,” she said, explaining she is back on the transplant list and encouraging everyone she meets to consider organ donation if they are able.

A Donate Life flag also was raised at the hospital to fly in front of the building throughout April in observance of Donate Life Month.

(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com)