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Wlaf1450By Charlotte Underwood
(Left to right) Robby O’Daniel holding his son Patrick O’Daniel , Zach Lloyd and Billy Jarvis
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF) – A Donate Life organ and tissue donation awareness event was held at Tennova – LaFollette Medical Center on Friday morning at 11am.
Billy Jarvis, who is the Senior Educator at Tennessee Donor Services spoke first at the event. Jarvis has worked with Tennessee Donor Services for more than 25 years.
He is a two-time kidney transplant recipient as well. He had a kidney for 31 years and in 2020 contracted Covid, which caused him to lose his kidney and he was “lucky enough to get a second kidney.”
He said he is one of 14 donor recipients in his immediate family.
Billy Jarvis is a two-time kidney recipient and is also the Senior Educator at Tennessee Donor Services.
Personally understanding the impact that organ donation has on families helps Jarvis when working with organ donors and recipients.
“I have had the privilege, the true blessing to meet families like Zach and all the donor families I work with. It is a blessing to see both sides. People like myself and Zach – some stranger they have never laid eyes on, who was at their worst time in their life on their death bed – they say, I will save somebody else and that’s what donation is all about,” Jarvis said.
Several local organ and tissue donation recipients spoke at the event, sharing their “miraculous” stories.
LaFollette Press Editor Robby O’Daniel and his son Baby Patrick O’Daniel were guests at the event. Patrick, who is nearly three years old now, is the recipient of a heart transplant. His dad shared the fear that he and his wife felt when shortly after their son was born, they found out he needed a heart transplant.
The flags at LaFollette Medical Center.
“Within three days we were basically shipped to Vanderbilt (Medical Center), and told even if you get a heart transplant, we were told by a surgeon they didn’t know if he would survive the Cath operation. It was not the smooth birth we thought it would be. But we were lucky in the sense that they found out pretty quickly within the first week that we needed a heart transplant, and he got put on the waiting list and approved and then a little over two months, he got the heart he needed for the transplant. It just meant so much. We were so lucky to only wait two months. He was born in June, and he got to go home in November. It’s a scarce resource, but we were lucky… we are so blessed and fortunate for the family who donated their heart to us,” O’Daniel said.
East LaFollette Baptist Church Pastor Zach Lloyd gave the invocation at the event, saying he was thankful for his own “miracle.”
Lloyd, who is the recipient of a double lung transplant due to Covid, is now 1,177 days out since his transplant.
He spoke about the importance of the relationships built through Donate Life and what it means to be on the receiving side of that and how important organ donation is. He encouraged others to think about “giving the gift of life.”
“I would encourage you to be thinking about that and the possibility of how you can help somebody. We’re 1,177 days out, and I am thankful for everyone one of you,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd also said he was thankful for Donate Services and what they do.
Tennova – LaFollette Medical Center CEO Mark Cain said Donate Life was something the hospital had spent some time and focus on, and that the hospital was honored to be part of the program and pleased to be able to be part of donor recipients’ lives.
Campbell County Mayor Jack Lynch read a proclamation, encouraging others to sign up as organ donors and declaring April as Donate Life Month in Campbell County.
(Left to right) Billy Jarvis and Mark Cain as Jack Lynch reads Friday’s proclamation.
“It’s a great honor to recognize life, and that’s what this is about, giving life. It touches a lot of people; my nephew is also the recipient of a kidney transplant,” Lynch shared.
Mark Cain (left) is presented with a proclamation from Jack Lynch.
“National Donate Life – Whereas one of the most meaningful gifts a person can give to another person is the gift of life. And whereas many citizens in Campbell County have donated or received the gift of life. And whereas there are more than 300 individuals on the transplant list in the state of Tennessee today. And whereas the need for donations such as eyes, organs and tissue grows daily. Whereas millions of lives are saved each year by the generous donations of organs, tissue, marrow, and blood. And whereas you can become a donor at Donatelife.org. Now therefore I, Jack Lynch, Mayor of Campbell County, Tennessee, do hereby proclaim, April 19, 2024, as National Donate Life Month in Campbell County, Tennessee.” (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 04/22/2024-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)