Recipient to Raise Organ-Donation Awareness

By STACI DENNIS

By Staci Dennis

Correspondent

KEMPSVILLE

Barely able to breathe and confined to her bedroom, Jeanett Walker still chose to smoke cigarettes.

When the doctor told her she had emphysema and would need a lung transplant, it still wasn’t enough for her to quit.

“My doctors told me to stop smoking, but I never listened,” she said. “I wish I would have.”

Walker, 59, has stopped smoking – one lung transplant later.

“Now my life has no limits,” the Charlestown Lakes woman said. “Before the transplant, living was no fun.”

After spending eight hours in surgery, Walker received a new lung on April 15, 2004 . She now ta kes daily medication.

More than 2,500 Virginian s aw ait an organ transplant, s aid Dena Reynold s, a spokesperson with the Virginia Beach-based LifeNet, a nonprofit, full-service organ donation agency and tissue banking system.

April is National Donate Life Month, and Reynolds hopes to spread the word about being a donor.

“People are dying every day because an organ is not available,” Reynolds said. “Thousands of people in Virginia are waiting for the gift of life.”

In 200 6, 392 p eople received organ transplants thanks to the efforts of LifeNet. That was an 11 percent increase over 2005, when 347 people were recipients. Organs recovered include the heart, both lungs and kidneys, pancreas and liver.

“I can do things now that I couldn’t do before,” Walker said. “For starters, I can take a deep breath.”

After spending six years on oxygen and two virtually bed-ridden, Walker is doing all she can to make up for lost time. She joined the choir at church and went on a tour with the group to Austria.

“I can’t keep up with her anymore,” said her husband, David W alker . “She’s always ready to get up and go now.”

In addition to volunteering with LifeNet by making public appearances at schools and conventions to tell her story, Walker also reached out to the donor’s family.

“It broke my heart to hear their story,” Walker said. “Now they are like my family.”

Walker’s lung came from a 42-year-old man stationed at the Pentagon. He had a stroke while running on the treadmill, she said. He was married with two young sons.

“I had to let them know what his gift did for me,” Walker said. “I have life because of him.”

LifeNet: www.lifenet.org

Staci Dennis, sdennis@cox.ne t

(c) 2007 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.