Organ Donation Awareness

Giving Thanks

On Sunday, November 25th, my story was featured on the CW 11 program "Close Up" at 6 am http://cw11.trb.com/news/local/wpix-closeuphome,0,6081153.htmlstory.  The special program, hosted by Marvin Scott, featured three people who have extra reason to give thanks this holiday: Jeffrey Deskovic, a man who was incarcerated erroneously and freed after spending 16 years in jail (also featured on the front page of yesterday's NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/us/25jeffrey.html?_r=1&oref=slogin), a Major in the US army who is home for the holiday after spending time in Iraq, and me.

Ellyn Marks produced the segment: she had done a story about my need for a transplant while I was in the hospital in 2005 and wanted to do a follow up to help raise awareness about the need for organ donors.  Following my transplant, I was diagnosed with Wilson's Disease, a genetic condition where the body cannot process copper.  The copper accumulates either in the brain or the liver causing irreparable damage if not diagnosed.  Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 11 - 20; in my case, I was asymptomatic and the disease didn't present itself until it was almost too late: the Wilson's Disease caused my liver failure.

Just last week, I heard a very alarming statistic: of the population who died in NY last year, only 1 percent was eligible to donate their organs, which makes the need all the more urgent.  Please continue to help me spread the word about the importance of organ donation.  For more information about organ donation please visit: http://www.donatelifeny.org/ or http://www.organdonor.gov/.  For more information about Wilson's Disease, please visit: www.wilsonsdisease.org. 

All the best,
Shari

First Annual Sip, Sing and Support Benefit

href="http://helpshari.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/25/logo.gif"> Let’s sing to life and second chances!

Join us to celebrate the first annual

Sip, Sing & Support

benefit to raise awareness
about the importance of organ donation

Wednesday, August 8th From 7 pm – 10 pm
The Penthouse at Spotlight Live
1604 Broadway at 49th Street

$65 ticket/$100 VIP ticket (includes a raffle ticket)
Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, karaoke and an amazing silent auction

RSVP by Friday, August 3 to [email protected] Please make check payable to “Shari Kurzrok Second Chance For Life Foundation.” All Proceeds Are Tax Deductibleand will go to the
Shari Kurzrok Second Chance for Life Foundation to benefit the New York Organ Donor Network.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to make a contribution, you can send a donation to:

Shari Kurzrok Second Chance For Life Foundation, c/o JCF, 575 Madison Avenue, Suite 703, New York, NY 10022

Auction Items Include: Walt Disney Movie Screening, Adrienne Vittadini luggage set, Lancome Gift Basket, Jacmel earrings, Diageo liquor, Schylling toys, tickets to “The Colbert Report,” tickets to the Giants game, Knicks tickets, tickets to the Big Apple Circus for a family of four, top flight wine tasting in-home courtesy of Palm Bay Imports, luncheon with celebrity courtesy of Wenner Media, travel guides courtesy of Fodor’s, Cole Haan handbag, NJ Devils tickets, four tickets to the Mets

One Year Post-Transplant

Hi everyone.  Exactly one year ago, I was in the ICU at

New York

University

Medical

Center

waiting for a life saving liver transplant.  Many of you spent your personal time to help me by sharing my story with others, distributing posters, donating blood and spreading the word about my need for a transplant.  I am very thankful for all of your support and words of encouragement; I don’t know if and how I could ever truly convey my appreciation.

As you may remember, I was listed as Status 1 on the United National Organ Sharing [UNOS] waiting list – meaning I wasn’t expected to live more than a week unless a liver that was a match for me could be found.  Miraculously, on August, 6^th, a liver became available.  I ask for your help again, not for me, but for the thousands of others who are waiting for a life saving transplant.

While still in the hospital, I learned about the many myths and misconceptions about donation from my surgeons and nurses.  I made a promise that once I was discharged and felt well enough, I’d do my part to help raise awareness of this issue.  Before last summer, I was ignorant about organ donation.  My family, friends, colleagues and I became educated through our first-hand experience.

To mark the one year anniversary of my transplant, the company for which I work, Ogilvy PR, is continuing to support this issue by helping to raise awareness about the need for organ donors.  On August 9th, along with the New York Organ Donor Network, we're holding a

Donor Drive

and volunteer registration program where we'll provide materials to our staff and educate them about how they can become organ donors.  If you’re interested in spearheading a similar program, please let me know and I’d be happy to help you coordinate.

It’s a difficult topic for many to think about, but until it hits home, its not one that’s necessarily top of mind.  I understand that whether or not you become an organ donor is a personal decision, but I hope that you take the time to learn about the process.  As the laws that govern donation are different in each state, please visit Donate Life

America

www.donatelife.net for information about how you can become a registered donor.

My experience has helped me appreciate the little things we sometimes take for granted like taking a hot shower or enjoying a good meal.  I’ve been given a second chance to live my life to the fullest.  I'm forever grateful to the family who decided to donate their loved one's organs.  In their honor, I ask that you consider becoming an organ donor, if you haven’t already, and encourage others to do the same.  I hope that those of you who rallied to support me last year, will help the 92,000 others in our country who are waiting for a life saving transplant.  Let’s do what we can to help give these people a second chance to live their lives.

Thank you and best wishes,

Shari

Kurzrok Schnall

A Special Message From Shari

I wanted to let everyone know that I am finally home from the hospital.  I was discharged yesterday.  I am doing well and have a long road to recovery ahead of me.  With each passing hour, I feel stronger.  It's wonderful, and also overwhelming, to be home after almost 6 weeks of living in the ICU.  I still have a lot to learn about both my condition and what transpired over the last 6 weeks (Robby and my family are helping me piece things together.  I am aware of the media, but have not seen or read anything yet). 

I wanted to thank each and every one of you for all of your support and encouragement.  I am touched and amazed by the tremendous outpouring of good wishes provided to me personally, to Robby and my family.  We are where we are today thanks to all of you.  I am so lucky on so many different levels to have another chance at life and to have such amazing friends in my life who gave so much of their personal time to help raise awareness about my situation.  Your support made such a difference to me - hearing from Jamie and Ayala about everyone who was in contact helped brighten my days and gave me strength and encouragement to carry on, especially during the time I waited for a healthy liver.

While I don't want to be presumptuous, I know many of you have asked what you can do to help or send me as I recuperate.  While I was in the hospital, I started a Foundation called the Shari Kurzrok Second Chance for Life Foundation.  The mission of the Foundation is to raise awareness and educate the public about the dire need for organ donation in our country.  I learned that 89,000 people in our country need either a kidney or liver transplant.  Because of my condition, I was placed on the critical list and luckily a match was made that saved my life.  I hope that the Foundation will help give others a second chance at their lives the way I am so fortunate to have another chance at mine.

In lieu of get well gifts and flowers, donations can be made to the Shari Kurzrok Second Chance for Life Foundation in care of JCF, 575 Madison Avenue Suite 703, New York, New York, 10022.

Love,
Shari

NYU Medical Center's Press Release About Shari

Highly Publicized Transplant Patient Leaves NYU Medical Center
After Successful Liver Transplant

New York, August 25, 2005 – Shari Kurzrok, whose plight became symbolic of the need for organ donation, left NYU Medical Center recently after a successful liver transplant. Shari, 31, who was in good health at the time, collapsed suddenly with unexplained liver failure. After a tension-filled wait of nearly three weeks, she received a transplant through the standard operation of the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) matching system, which is operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

Dr. Lewis Teperman, Shari’s Transplant Surgeon and Director of Transplantation at NYU Medical Center, believes, “The hardest part of the transplant is not the surgery but waiting for a donor.  Shari is extremely fortunate.  She received a liver via the UNOS managed system and in the nick of time.  Unfortunately, there are almost 700 patients just at NYU, waiting for a liver. 

Mobilized by the severity of the organ donor crisis, the family has started the Shari Kurzrok Second Chance for Life Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to raise awareness and to educate the public on the dire need for organ donation in our country. This is not Kurzrok’s first public awareness campaign. Two years ago Shari, a vice president at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, led the publicity campaign for the Red Cross’ largest-ever blood donor campaign, the Save A Life Tour. She hopes the Foundation will have the same success. For more information on the Foundation go to liverforalife.com.

“I want to thank everyone for their good wishes, prayers and efforts. Most especially, I am forever grateful to the donor’s family for this amazing gift,” said Shari Kurzrok. “I realize how fortunate I am to have a second chance at life and I plan to help others get their second chances as well.

Contact:
Pamela McDonnell
Director, Media Relations
NYU Medical Center Public Affairs
212-404-3555
Email: [email protected]

8/15 Update

Shari is still recovering at the hospital, but is making continual progress everyday. Her doctors say that she is "on track" and her spirits are good.  We wanted to again thank everyone for their ongoing support and good wishes, as they are greatly appreciated.

OPTN/UNOS' Statement on Shari's Successful Liver Transplant

Statement of OPTN/UNOS Executive Director Walter Graham Regarding Liver Transplant for Shari Kurzrok

In recent days, considerable media attention has been focused on Ms. Shari Kurzrok and her urgent need for a liver transplant.  Her experience has also brought attention to the desperate need for organ donation shared by 89,000 patients now awaiting transplantation across the country. We are pleased to have been informed that Ms. Kurzrok has received a transplant through the standard operation of the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) matching system, which is operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) under federal contract.

It is important to emphasize that an established system is in place to help all transplant candidates awaiting organs from deceased donors.  As required by federal law and regulation, this system is based upon established medical criteria and equity – ensuring that candidates receive priority based on their medical need and not on personal characteristics or social status.  This is fundamental to ensuring public trust in the transplant system.

In liver transplantation there are several key matching factors, including:

• The candidate’s level of medical urgency;
• The medical compatibility between donor and candidate; and
• The relative amount of time the organ must be preserved between recovery and transplantation.

The OPTN uses a highly sophisticated, computerized system to assess medical factors among donors and candidates and prioritize potential recipients.  The OPTN provides donor information to the transplant physician, who then decides whether a specific organ offer is acceptable.

The OPTN’s organ allocation system is designed to provide every possible opportunity to patients awaiting life-saving transplantation.  Ultimately, however, all transplant candidates rely on the selfless act of organ donation.  One organ and tissue donor can save and enhance the lives of 50 people.  We encourage everyone to help patients in need by making and sharing a commitment to Donate Life.

For more information about organ donation and transplantation, visit the following web sites:
www.optn.org
www.unos.org
www.donatelife.net
www.organdonor.gov
www.donatelifeny.org

GOOD NEWS: SHARI RECEIVED A NEW LIVER!

We are pleased to announce that Shari finally received the liver transplant she so desperately needed.  Her doctor finished the surgery Saturday night and said that it went very well. She is still recovering in the ICU, but is stable. 

We want to thank everyone for the unbelievable outpouring of love, support and prayers over the past three weeks. It has been an amazing source of comfort and inspiration and we have been touched by the kindness of strangers and friends alike. Shari will be overwhelmed when she learns the extent of the efforts that took place on her behalf across the nation.   

We are forever grateful to the donor’s family for this amazing gift and our thoughts are with them during this difficult time. 

We hope that Shari’s situation has helped to draw attention to organ donation and that it will encourage those who may not have considered it before to become an organ donor. According to UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing), there are more than 89,000 people in the United States waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, with more than 17,000 awaiting a liver, illustrating the importance of organ donation. We know how hard the waiting can be and truly hope that everyone continues to spread the word for this urgent need so that other families can experience the joy that we are feeling today. 

Thanks again,

Shari’s Family, Friends & Colleagues

Update for Friday 8/5

Shari's condition remains the same.  Thanks again for all the continued support.

Donate Blood in Honor of Shari

In honor of Shari and her work on behalf of the American Red Cross, we ask everyone to consider making a blood donation. For people living in New York City, the NYU Blood Bank has issued a call for blood donors and their contact information is:

NYU Blood Bank
530 First Avenue (at East 30th Street)
New York, NY 10016
212-263-5440
Mon-Fri 8:30am-4:30pm