She Has New Lease on Life: Organ-Transplant Recipient Working to Spread the Word About the Need for Donors

By Danielle Sottosanti, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

Apr. 12–Oro Valley Mayor Paul Loomis recently declared April “Donate Life Arizona Month” in the town and honored a resident who is an organ-transplant recipient.

The month is already recognized nationwide and statewide as a time to raise awareness of organ, tissue and cornea donation, but Oro Valley’s decision to take it to a more local level makes it more real for the community, said Kris Bolster, Donor Network of Arizona’s public-relations coordinator.

“It brings it home to the people. Otherwise, it’s hard for people to relate across the nation,” she said. “It makes you more aware and makes you want to act.”

In his proclamation, Loomis said the town encourages all residents to sign up as organ donors.

Last week, he also gave Dianne Miller townwide recognition by designating May 9 “Dianne Miller Day” in Oro Valley.

Miller, who has lived in the town for 21 years, received a liver transplant on May 9, 2004. This May 9 marks the “third anniversary of her second birthday,” as Loomis called it.

The transplant gave her a new outlook on life, said Miller, 58.

“The little things that you thought counted don’t count at all,” she said. “You make lemonade out of lemons every day.”

Since her transplant, Miller has been active as a swimmer, bicyclist, tennis player — and public speaker on organ donation.

“I’m here to show you transplantation works. I’m living proof,” she said. “Watch out, life, we’re back because we’re here to show the world we’re just as functional as ordinary people.”

She was active before her transplant but is more active now, she said, and won four gold medals at last year’s U.S. Transplant Games in Louisville, Ky.

In his proclamation of Dianne Miller Day, Loomis called her “an inspiration to all through her determination to increase the number of organ donations by advocating for Donate Life awareness and educating people how to sign up on the donor registry.”

But Miller’s mission isn’t for fame or glory: She just wants to raise awareness about organ donation so more people will become organ donors.

“I didn’t see ‘Dianne Miller Day’ coming,” said Miller. “Right from the get-go, I want you to know this is not about me. I’m just an instrument to get people excited and talking about organ donation.”

In Arizona, more than 1,300 people are waiting for an organ transplant, Bolster said. More than 95,000 people are waiting for a transplant nationwide.

“I just encourage everybody to sign up,” Miller said. “It’s the most unselfish act that a person can do because life should be lived and then you should live it.”

How to become an organ donor

–Checking the box on your driver’s license doesn’t officially make you an organ donor until you submit the accompanying paperwork, said Kris Bolster, Donor Network of Arizona’s public-relations coordinator. The quickest way to officially become an organ donor in Arizona is by registering at www.azdonorregistry.org or by calling 1-800-943-6667.

Right from the get-go, I want you to know this is not about me. I’m just an instrument to get people excited and talking about organ donation.

Dianne Miller

Oro Valley resident

–Contact reporter Danielle Sottosanti at 618-1922 or at dsottosanti@azstarnet.com.

—–

Copyright (c) 2007, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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.