Transplant Games Celebration of Life
By Ron Devlin, Reading Eagle, Pa.
Jul. 11–Robin Hivner might be called the Dara Torres of the U.S. Transplant Games.
Like Torres, the 41-year-old U.S. Swim Team member who will compete in her fi fth Olympic Games next month, Hivner is a multiple-medal winner.
At 47, the Exeter Township veterinary technician has won six consecutive gold medals in badminton and insists she’ll go for number seven when the Transplant Games open today in Pittsburgh.
"If there’s any way I can be on that court," said Hivner, who’s recovering from a ruptured appendix, "I’ll be there to defend my crown."
Hivner’s determination to carry on in the face of adversity is, in a sense, what the Transplant Games are all about.
All of the 2,000 athletes expected to go for the gold over the next six days have survived life-threatening illnesses by receiving organ transplants.
As they compete in 12 Olympic-style sports, ranging from tennis to track and fi eld events, the transplant recipients will rely on hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers and pancreases that once belonged to others.
"The games are a true testament to the success of organ donation," said Hivner, who owes her life to a kidney transplant performed two days after Christmas 1992. "They’re a celebration of life."
Actor Larry Hagman, who’s had a liver transplant, will lead the parade of athletes at the kickoff tonight in Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Hagman played J.R. Ewing on television’s "Dallas."
Three athletes from Berks and one each from neighboring Montgomery and Chester counties will compete as members of Team Philadelphia, sponsored by the Gift of Life organ donor program.
Mary Jo Lovely, 48, of Gilbertsville, who had a lung transplant a year ago, is going to Pittsburgh with a mix of nervousness and excitement.
She’s been walking and swimming to bulk up for the 1,500-meter run/walk, an event she approaches with some apprehension.
"I only hope I will be able to do it," Lovely said. "I hope I’ll be strong enough."
Luis Torres of Mohnton, who had a liver transplant four years ago at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, will run the 100-meter dash in the track and fi eld games Monday at Carnegie Mellon University.
"I’m looking forward to being surrounded by people like myself," said Torres, 52, a retired New York state trooper competing for the fi rst time. "It’s all about the gift we’ve gotten."
In 2004, Torres’ received the liver of an 18-year-old man who died in an auto accident.
"He saved my life and the lives of four others, and I have no words to explain that," said Torres, co-chairman of the Berks Coalition on Organ and Tissue Donation. "One can only imagine what his family went through."
Jay and Carol Schmehl of Wer nersville know what it’s like.
Their son, Eric, died six years ago when he was struck by a motorist while riding his bicycle in Maryland.
Eric, 34, a physical therapist, had decided to be a donor after a friend at Gov. Mifflin High School was killed in an auto accident.
Although his vital organs could not be used, Schmehl said his son’s corneas, skin and bones were used in medical procedures.
"It’s a loss," said Schmehl, a retired credit analyst. "At the same time, it’s a benevolent act that helps others."
The Schmehls, who also have decided to donate their organs, will attend the Transplant Games for the fi rst time. They are active in efforts to recruit donors in Berks County.
Howard Nathan, president of Gift of Life, said 5,400 people are on a waiting list for organ transplants in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.
One donor, he said, helps about 50 people in need of tissue or organs.
Hearts and lungs are the most difficult to find, Nathan said, because their size has to match the recipient’s failed organ.
The heart Jacob Hafer received when he was only 7 months old was the size of a walnut.
Twelve years later, Jake, as he is known on the family’s dairy farm in Douglassville, is healthy and looking forward to competing in three-onthree basketball at the Transplant Games. He’ll also try his hand at bowling.
"We’re very, very blessed," said Kathy Hafer, Jake’s mom. "He has never experienced any rejections or complications."
Jake, who was born with a heart defect, is on two anti-rejection medications, but is under no physical restrictions.
Kathy recalls the jumble of emotions she experienced when handing her infant son over to the transplant surgeons.
"I’ll never forget giving him a kiss and wondering if I was ever going to see him alive again," she said. "Then, my next thought was that there’s a family somewhere else who will never see their son again."
Jake received the heart of a child who died in an auto accident in Atlanta.
Kathy eagerly anticipates the Donor Recognition Ceremony on Sunday afternoon in Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts in Pittsburgh’s cultural district. Recipients and their families will pay tribute to the families of organ donors.
"There’s a closeness, a kind of bond between the donor and recipient families," she said. "It’s hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t been through it."
—–
To see more of the Reading Eagle, or to subscribe, go to http://www.readingeagle.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Reading Eagle, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.