CONTACT: Anthony Borders, California Transplant Donor Network, 510.301.8247 [email protected] Families become “Heroes” by saving others Transplant Recipients thank donor families, from left Sarah Kneeland, Daniel Iniguez, Betty Braddy, Lucia Robeson, Gudelia Bustamante and Ken Zech. Far right CTDN Clinical Services Manager Rick Elizondo Families become “Heroes” by saving others APRIL 29, 2014 – Fresno area families whose loved ones extended or improved the lives of someone else through organ and tissue donation were hailed as heroes Saturday. “You and your loved ones are heroes. All of you have experienced something so difficult and yet have generously and gracefully given so much to others,” said Denise Kinder, Chief Operations Officer of the nonprofit which works to arrange organ and tissue donation through Northern California and Northern Nevada. She spoke to more than 300 people at the Fresno Convention Center at the Donor Family Gathering, held each year by California Transplant Donor Network. The nonprofit facilitates organ and tissue donation throughout Northern California and Northern Nevada. . “With nearly 11,000 people in CTDN’s service area waiting for an organ transplant, your loved ones were among those who were able to provide 920 organs for transplant and more than 83,000 eye and tissue donations,” said Rick Elizondo, manager of CTDN’s Clinical Services in Fresno. What those Gifts of Life meant for Fresno area residents became especially clear as Lucia Robeson of Fresno said a kidney transplant meant more years of life, and seeing her son grow up. “Thank you for those years,” she told the crowd. Her words were echoed by Sarah Needland, a teenager from Visalia. At age 7 her diseased heart was giving out. She now dreams of college because of a donor. Reedley resident Ken Zeck was transplanted with a new liver in 2006. CTDN presented each donor donor family with a “Gift of Life Medal” to recognize the lives their loved one saved or made better by becoming a donor. Pictures of each donor flashed across screens in the Valdez Hall at the Fresno Convention Center. Other speakers at the event included Drew Maxwell, Vice President of Operations for SightLife, which recovers corneas for transplants; and Dr. Waldo Concepcion Professor of Surgery, Chief of Clinical Transplantation at Stanford University and Chief of Pediatric Kidney Surgery Transplantation at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. CTDN will hold another Donor Family Gathering in Reno, Nevada on May 18. Caption: Fresno Donor Family Gathering. Transplant Recipients thank donor families, from left Sarah Kneeland, Daniel Iniguez, Betty Braddy, Lucia Robeson, Gudelia Bustamante and Ken Zech. Far right CTDN Clinical Services Manager Rick Elizondo About the California Transplant Donor Network The California Transplant Donor Network saves and improves lives by facilitating organ and tissue donation for transplantation. The California Transplant Donor Network partners with 170 hospitals in 40 Northern and Central California and Northern Nevada counties to offer the option of organ and tissue donation to families whose loved ones have died, coordinates deceased organ and tissue recovery and placement to waiting transplant recipients. Through its public education efforts, the hope that every resident will chose to become a donor is possible. The California Transplant Donor Network is federally designated as the region’s organ recovery organization. For information, call 888-570-9400 or visit www.ctdn.org