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