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Home > 2004 Games Highlights > Celebrating Life at the U.S. Transplant Games

 
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    Celebrating Life at the U.S. Transplant Games
    By Cynthia Herrick, wife of the first-ever organ donor
     

    On the evening of July 28 we attended Opening Ceremonies at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the home of the Minnesota Twins, the Vikings, and the University of Minnesota Gophers. That night, however, the Metrodome belonged to a very special group of athletes, more than 1,500 organ recipients, and all the people who made their presence possible – families and friends of the athletes, the living donors and their families and friends, doctors and other professionals, National Kidney Foundation representatives, and the sponsors of the Games. More than 8,000 people had come together to celebrate the Olympic-style games as “Seasons of Love, Seasons of Life,” living in harmony with nature’s cycles and celebrating the joy of life.

    On that night the dome was alive with voices from the public address system; cheers from the teams; and drums, bells, and songs of the Ojibway singers and dancers. Big screens made possible close-up views of speakers on the stage. It was a festive occasion with all its color and camaraderie, with all the smiles and waving hands. As team family members and friends gathered in the stadium, athletes and donors had team pictures taken and prepared to march into the Metrodome.

    Team Maine’s manager, Ellen Souviney, once told us, “Recipients are the happiest people you would ever want to meet. They just love getting together with one another. They adore their donors and donor families.”

    The athletes marched in through arches lined with bright balloons and under the words “Donate Life.” Their message to all was, “Look at us. We’re alive and well and living life to the fullest. See what transplants did for us.” The parade was one of color and costume – Native American dress, showgirls, the lobster hats of Team Maine, and so much more.

    Recipients of every type of life-saving organ transplant including kidney, liver, heart, lung, pancreas, and bone marrow would compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals, celebrating their second chance at life and showing the world the power of organ donation. By 2004 more than 400,000 lives had been saved by the organ transplants that started in 1954, and more than 91,000 people were waiting to receive a life-saving organ. More than two-thirds needed a kidney.

    Then the donor families and living donors entered with the donor quilts from all over the country. There was more loud, expressive cheering, cheers of “Thank you” from the stadium. A second chance at life couldn’t happen without donors.