Organ Donation

For the third year in a row, Clark Regional Medical Center was recognized for its excellence in organ and tissue donation. Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates representative Donna Thacker presented the 2011 Excellence in Organ and Tissue Donation Performance Award to hospital CEO Kathy Love on Thursday afternoon during a presentation at the hospital. “I have the great honor of standing up here and receiving this award, but I can tell you it is not our CEO that makes this happen, it is our staff, medical staff and wonderful caregivers,”¿Love said.

According to Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), 18 people a day or approximately 6,000 a year will die while waiting for an organ transplant. Almost 110,000 people are registered on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list for donated organs, including more than 700 Kentuckians. It is estimated that a new name is added to the waiting list every 11 minutes. Many people are reluctant to consider organ or tissue donation because of misconceptions or a lack of understanding of the process.

To the editor: Since April is recognized as Donate Life Month, both nationally and here in Kentucky, I feel that this is a good time to thank the many Lincoln countians who have supported organ and tissue donation at our driver's license counter by donating $1 in support of out Kentucky Circuit Court Clerks' trust for Life and by placing their name on the new Kentucky Organ Donor Registry. Since May of 2007, when the donor-registry question became part of our driver's license renewal program, more than 280,000 Kentuckians have placed their names on the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry.

“Just a few days later I¿could see,”¿Ledford said. “It was so thrilling.” According to the Eye Bank Association of America, 46,196 corneal transplants were performed in 2011, with a 95 percent success rate. The new cornea came from a human donor, although Ledford does not know who. She became familiar with organ donation when her 11-year-old nephew was killed by a drunk driver and his heart was donated. In 2006, Kentucky lawmakers passed legislation enabling Kentucky residents to have their wishes concerning organ donation documented through the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry, its website states.

JUNCTION CITY - After 25 years, the Railroad Days road race has been reborn, and now it offers the same chance to some of those needing organ and tissue transplants. The 5-kilometer race in Junction City got a new sponsor and a new beneficiary for its 25th anniversary, with its mission changed to call attention to the need for organ and tissue donors and its proceeds going to further that cause. And there were signs everywhere around Junction City Park on Saturday that this was no longer just another 5K. The new race director is a multi-organ transplant recipient, the cyclist who led the runners around the course is a kidney recipient, and one of the young boys presenting the trophies is a heart recipient.

When the new Trust for Life icons for driver's licenses became available Wednesday, Clark County's first went to someone with intimate knowledge of the need for organ donations. Ama Wills' husband Harold received a heart transplant in 1991. Ama Wills was a cousin of Arthur “Whitey” Walson, Clark County's circuit clerk at the time. Harold Wills' situation was the inspiration for the Trust for Life organ donor awareness program, Walson's niece and current Circuit Clerk Paula Joslin said.

Elaine Hundley has a passionate desire to inform others about organ donation, and how they should make the decision before their family may be forced to make it for them. Hundley lost her husband of 20 years, her high school sweetheart, in November from pulmonary fibrosis, a rapidly debilitating disease causing hardening and shrinking of the lungs. Brad Hundley was diagnosed with the disease in October 2002. Although he was treated with oxygen therapy and massive amounts of steroids at first, doctors eventually determined his condition wasn't treatable with medicines and that a double lung transplant was his only hope of survival.

When a loved one dies, many people take comfort in the notion that the departed has gone to God. For family members of Joshua Richter, his passing has been made easier in knowing that his liver has gone to a man in Wisconsin and his kidneys will help save the lives of two Kentuckians. "It gives me such peace knowing my baby's living on, giving life to other people," Debby Richter said Thursday at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, where doctors were in the process of removing her late son's organs for transplant to other patients who need them to survive.

Former Clark County Circuit Clerk Arthur “Whitey” Walson, 75, died Monday at Clark Regional Medical Center after suffering from prostate cancer for 16 years. Walson served as clerk from 1975 to 1992, when he left to work at the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts. He was heavily involved in promoting organ and tissue donation and used his position in the Kentucky court system to draw awareness to the issue. In 1992, while working in Clark County, Walson lost a cousin who was waiting for a heart transplant.

Dear Editor: On behalf of Kentuckians awaiting a life-saving organ transplant, a hearty thank-you to Boyle Circuit Court Clerk Trudy Stevens and her deputies for generating awareness about the need for organ donation through the Circuit Clerks' Trust For Life program. Because of the generosity of the citizens of Boyle County who have donated one dollar upon driver's license renewal, there is a greater understanding throughout the commonwealth about the vital need for organ donation.

When the new Trust for Life icons for driver's licenses became available Wednesday, Clark County's first went to someone with intimate knowledge of the need for organ donations. Ama Wills' husband Harold received a heart transplant in 1991. Ama Wills was a cousin of Arthur “Whitey” Walson, Clark County's circuit clerk at the time. Harold Wills' situation was the inspiration for the Trust for Life organ donor awareness program, Walson's niece and current Circuit Clerk Paula Joslin said.

According to Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), 18 people a day or approximately 6,000 a year will die while waiting for an organ transplant. Almost 110,000 people are registered on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting list for donated organs, including more than 700 Kentuckians. It is estimated that a new name is added to the waiting list every 11 minutes. Many people are reluctant to consider organ or tissue donation because of misconceptions or a lack of understanding of the process.

Arthur Walson was a trailblazer and a leader. The enactment of the Trust for Life was due to his passion and dogged determination. His vision was clear, his forethought exceptional. Mr. Walson pioneered this initiative, and the outcome is legendary. Mr. Walson epitomized public service, not only as Clark County Circuit Clerk, but by taking innovative and courageous steps to build the circuit clerks' Trust for Life organ donation awareness program in 1992. Motivated by losing a loved one waiting for a heart transplant, he knew Kentuckians (and the world)

Former Clark County Circuit Clerk Arthur “Whitey” Walson, 75, died Monday at Clark Regional Medical Center after suffering from prostate cancer for 16 years. Walson served as clerk from 1975 to 1992, when he left to work at the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts. He was heavily involved in promoting organ and tissue donation and used his position in the Kentucky court system to draw awareness to the issue. In 1992, while working in Clark County, Walson lost a cousin who was waiting for a heart transplant.

For the third year in a row, Clark Regional Medical Center was recognized for its excellence in organ and tissue donation. Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates representative Donna Thacker presented the 2011 Excellence in Organ and Tissue Donation Performance Award to hospital CEO Kathy Love on Thursday afternoon during a presentation at the hospital. “I have the great honor of standing up here and receiving this award, but I can tell you it is not our CEO that makes this happen, it is our staff, medical staff and wonderful caregivers,”¿Love said.

“Just a few days later I¿could see,”¿Ledford said. “It was so thrilling.” According to the Eye Bank Association of America, 46,196 corneal transplants were performed in 2011, with a 95 percent success rate. The new cornea came from a human donor, although Ledford does not know who. She became familiar with organ donation when her 11-year-old nephew was killed by a drunk driver and his heart was donated. In 2006, Kentucky lawmakers passed legislation enabling Kentucky residents to have their wishes concerning organ donation documented through the Kentucky Organ Donor Registry, its website states.

Although ALPHA¿1 Anti-trypsin is a genetic disease, Kevin's condition was exacerbated by contact with viral hepatitis when he was 5, and doctors believe his liver had been deteriorating ever since. “It was a very eye-opening, frightening experience,” Perri said. Kevin and Perri both remember the night they found out Kevin would receive a new liver. They were at home in Winchester when the phone rang at about 11 p.m. By midnight, they were at Jewish Hospital and Kevin was being prepared for his surgery.

KY Circuit Court Clerks recognize National Donate Life Month The Circuit Court Clerks throughout Kentucky and their Trust For Life celebrate National Donate Life Month this April. The month long celebration honors the generosity of organ, eye and tissue donors and their families, and commemorates all transplant recipients in the United States. While 2011 marked the achievement of 1 million registered donors in Kentucky, and 100 million  in America, the need for organ, eye and tissue transplants is steadily increasing.

The Jessamine County Circuit Clerk's Office saw 44.1 percent rate of organ donation sign ups in 2011, circuit clerk Doug Fain said. “I am proud that our office has made an impact on patients in need of a life-saving organ transplant, and I am humbled at the generosity of our community,” Fain said. “Even through tough economic times, our community is committed to helping others.” The circuit court clerk's office plays a vital role in helping patients in need. With more than 700 Kentuckians on the waiting list for a life-saving organ transplant, the need is greater than ever.

More than 30 people donated their time last Thursday, Oct. 6, in an effort to educate young children about organ donation and making healthy choices. The “Life is Cool” program visited Warner Elementary in Nicholasville. Fourth- and fifth-graders visited stations around the school's gymnasium, feeling air go in and out of a lung, seeing a heart and learning about tissue and other organs. Physical-education teacher Emily Best covered a five-week curriculum with the students prior to the program's visit; she said they were enthusiastic about the basic knowledge as well as the hands-on experience.