Organ Donor Awareness - Trish and I will be taking time to talk at local schools about Paige and organ donation.  We also want to reach out financially and assist families so that they can remain focused on the care of their loved ones while they go through the life-changing event of donation/transplantation.   Access to the current organ transplant/donor system is not available to many because of the high costs involved.  Patients awaiting a transplant organ and surgery can incur an expense of up to $3000 a day whether or not an organ becomes available before they expire.  Recipients of a liver transplant, for example, can expect a hospital bill on the order of $250,000 of which, typically, only $10,000 may go to the surgeon who actually performs the operation.  Post-surgery medications and care can run hundreds or thousands of dollars a month.  PHF will assist with transplant-related expenses such as medication, medical bills and housing and transportation costs for either the donor and transplant receipient.

Our Hero - Paige saved the lives of 4 people by donating her organs.  On December 4th 2005 at 230am Carolina Donor Services let us know that all Paige's organs (the ones we allowed) were successfully transplanted.  This was an important piece of information for Trish and me to know.  The recipient of Paige's right kidney is a fifty-two-year-old female who has been married for twenty years and lives in North Carolina.  She has one adult child and two brothers, and she enjoys traveling.  The recipient of Paige's left kidney and pancreas is a fifty-one-year-old male who is married to a loving and supportive wife and lives in North Carolina.  He has three children and an extensive supportive family, and his appreciation for Paige's gift to him is so great that he becomes tearful when discussing his gratitude.  The recipient of Paige's liver is a twenty-eight-year-old female who lives in Kentucky.  The recipient of Paige's heart and lungs is a seventeen-year-old female who lives in North Carolina.