Donate Life organ and tissue donation awareness event held at LMC

TOP PHOTO: “Organ donations bring something positive out of tragedy,” said Mark Cain, CEO of Tennova – La Follette Medical Center.

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – A Donate Life organ and tissue donation awareness flag raising event was held at Tennova – LaFollette Medical Center at 11:00 o’clock Wednesday morning. See Charlie Hutson’s photo gallery HERE.

Organ and tissue donation recipients from the area, as well as community leaders spoke at the event, promoting organ donation and how it “saves lives.” There are multiple people in the community who have been saved by organ donations. 

East LaFollette Baptist Church Pastor Zach Lloyd, Baby Patrick O’Daniel and Baby Jack Price were all organ donation recipients present at Wednesday’s event. Baby Patrick O’Daniel is the recipient of a heart transplant, while little Jack Price has received multiple bone marrow transplants.

Lloyd, who is the recipient of a double lung transplant due to Covid, spoke in gratitude and thankfulness for the “miracle and gift” that saved his life. 

“I’ve had the opportunity to live 818 days because of the transplant, and God’s been very faithful and very good,” Lloyd said with emotion.

Lloyd also said he was thankful for Donate Services and what they do and for the relationships he and his family had built with people through transplant and how it had affected his life in the positive. 

He said he was thankful for his donor family and that someday he hoped to have the opportunity to meet them. 

Tennova – LaFollette Medical Center CEO Mark Cain said Donate Life was something the hospital had spent some time and focus on. The first organ transplants in the history of the La Follette Medical Center were performed last year, according to Cain. He said the hospital was honored to be part of the program and pleased to be able to be part of donor recipients lives.

“I’m thankful for what the hospital has been able to do. In this past year, there have been three organ donations with two organ donors. All of those donations from the hospital here were kidney transplants. There were seven tissue donors with 127 tissues recovered from LaFollette Medical Center and two of those were corneas and two of those were heart valves, and I’m very thankful for that,” Lloyd said. 

On a personal note, Lloyd also thanked everyone for their prayers for his family and for how God is moving in his life.

Vic Ilagan with Tennessee Donor Services said last year was the first year LaFollette has ever had an organ donor.

“Not only did you have one, but you had two organ donors and that’s huge. Like Zach said it saved three lives that otherwise would not have had a chance at life without you guys,” Ilagan said.

County Mayor Jack Lynch read a proclamation, encouraging others to sign up as organ donors. 

“Whereas one of the most meaningful gifts that a human being can bestow upon another is the gift of life and Whereas more that 28,000 Americans receive a life saving organ transplant every year and more than 112,000 men, women and children are currently on the national waiting list for organ transplant and whereas a new patient is added to the waiting list every ten minutes. Whereas one organ, tissue and eye donor can save and enhance the life of up to 60 people.  Everyone as a potential donor can register to help save a life through donation at the local DMV office. And Whereas I call upon health care professionals, volunteers, educators,  government agencies, faith-based and community groups and private organizations to help raise awareness for the urgent need for organ and tissue donors throughout our community,” Lynch said. He finished the proclamation by declaring April 2023 as Donate Life month in Campbell County.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 04/27/2023-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)