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Donate life, family urges Aunt gives baby "a second chance at life" Date published: 4/21/2009
BY KIM BAER
Jennifer Wallace considers her sister-in-law to be her toddler's second mother. "I gave birth to her," Wallace said, "but Jessica gave her a second chance at life." Jessica Wallace, 31, donated a portion of her liver to her niece, who recently turned 1, in the fall. Brooke was born with biliary atresia, a rare newborn liver disorder. Without a new liver, she likely wouldn't have lived past age 2. The Orange County family knows Brooke got lucky. "Other children are not so fortunate and have to wait for a cadaver liver to come available, which in some cases is too late," Wallace wrote in an e-mail. "That is why we need more people to sign up to be organ donors." April is National Donate Life Month. The Wallaces hope that by sharing Brooke's story, they can encourage others to become organ donors. The need is great. An average of three Virginians die each week while waiting for an organ transplant, according to save7lives .org, a Web site put together by organ procurement organizations, eye banks and transplant centers. More than 2,000 people in Virginia are currently on a waiting list for a transplant, the Web site reported. This includes a King George County infant, Sophie Grace Nelson. Ted and Holly Nelson's 7-month-old daughter was born with many birth defects, including biliary atresia. She is on the waiting list for a liver transplant. More information is available at sophiegrace.org. Brooke was briefly on the list, too, until Jessica Wallace was found to be a good living donor match. 'I WASN'T SCARED' Good donor matches typically have compatible blood types, among other factors. Jessica Wallace underwent several tests to make sure she was physically and mentally healthy enough to donate. Once cleared, she didn't hesitate to have the surgery. "It was weird," she said, "I wasn't scared or nervous at all." Living donors may give a kidney, a lobe of a lung, and a portion of their liver, pancreas or intestine, according to donatelife.net, the Web site of Donate Life America. The national organization was started by transplant groups to promote organ donation. Brooke was only 7 months old when her transplant surgery was performed at Georgetown University Hospital on Oct. 9.
Date published: 4/21/2009
By All means DONATE LIFE AMERICA !!!!! http://www.donatelife.net/CommitToDonation/
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