Hey Team Wisconsin and Friends,
The first event in our legacy tour was a success! To begin the day, we set up in Eau Claire at Borders bookstore. We met members of Team Wisconsin as well as representatives of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin who are transporting the donor quilt along the way on our Legacy Tour.
Josh Bergeron introduced himself to us at the event. At the age of 14 he noticed something was wrong while playing basketball. After only ten minutes of playing, he was exhausted. Doctors quickly determined it was his heart and put him on the waiting list for a new one. Doctors told Bergeron if he didn’t receive a heart transplant, he had only three months to live. Two months later in April of 1999, Bergeron was given a new heart. Bergeron got back into athletics and still trains year-round. He even won a gold medal in track at the World Transplant Games in Australia. Bergeron is part of Team Wisconsin and will be competing at this summer’s Games in Madison. Bergeron is so grateful for the choice his donor made and stresses the need for more donors.
"All over Wisconsin and actually, all over the world, we need donors because if I wouldn't have gotten my heart when I did, the doctor was prepared to tell us that I had three months to live," said Bergeron.
Links to media coverage:
WQOW in Eau Claire
http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12617172
Our next stop was La Crosse where we met two women, one who’s husband donated his organs and the other received a life-saving gift from another stranger.
Debbie Morovits shared with us the story of her husband, Dennis, who died in a crash while riding his moped. Dennis was transported to the hospital and given a 1% chance to live.
“There was no doubt in my mind that if Dennis could be a donor that's what the boys and I wanted,” said Morovits. “He became a kidney donor for 2 Wisconsin patients that suffered from end- stage kidney failure, whom we have met and will be at the Transplant Games in Madison. He helped 37 people, through the gift of donated bone and soft tissue, ages ranging from 9-80 and we have been told the bone grafts were sent for transplant in 28 different states. He also donated both eyes.”
Morovits said Dennis filled his time in life by doing kind acts for others.
“He did in death what he did in life, he did a kind act for someone that needed him.”
Morovits shared her family’s story, and organ recipients thanked her for the choice her family made. She presented the representatives of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin with the donor quilt to be carried on to the next stop on the Legacy Tour.
Next, Betsy Klein shared her story and what it meant to her that her donor made the same choice Dennis did and what she’s been able to do with her life because of that choice. Klein, received her liver transplant when she was 34. After receiving a new liver, Klein went on to finish college and now helps out with Hospitality House for her church, a place outpatients or family members of those staying in the La Crosse hospitals can call home for a while.
Klein is incredibly grateful for the gift of life she received years ago.
“While this is an experience that I would not wish on anyone including my worst enemy I would go through it again in a heartbeat because it has made me the person that I am today and has given me a new appreciation for life and for each new day that I have been given,” she said.
It was an inspiring day filled with gratitude and triumph. A great end to the first day of our exciting tour!
Links to media coverage:
La Crosse Tribune
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_cb0e9e04-7375-11df-a547-001cc4c002e0.html
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