Faces of the Games
MELISSA CHOI SALVADOR & OBELINE PLANTE
Portland, Oregon & Providence, Rhode Island
School yard nose-bleeds were the norm for Melissa Choi Salvador who suffered from the early signs of aplastic anemia. Blood transfusions helped treat the condition until it miraculously reversed itself when Melissa was 12.
After leading a normal life for more than a decade, a blood test for a marriage license revealed that her liver function was off. Six months later Melissa experienced severe abdominal pain. More tests showed that she had Hepatitis C and fibrosis of the liver the result of her childhood blood transfusions. To survive, Melissa needed a new liver. After a seven-month wait, a donor became available.
Two years after enjoying restored health, Melissa wrote anonymously to the family of her donor, Joan Plante, but never heard back. Unbeknownst to Melissa, her donor's friend, Jackie, also a transplant recipient, attended the U.S. Transplant Games alongside Melissa in 1996. There, Jackie deduced that Melissa had been the recipient of Joan's generosity. They struck up a conversation and Melissa learned more about Joan and her mom, Obeline, who lived in Providence, Rhode Island. Jackie brought Obeline and Melissa together and the two began communicating by phone.
At the 2004 U.S. Transplant Games she met Obeline for the first time, a tearful but significant meeting. She also won six medals and had the honor of being named the Outstanding Female Athlete as her donor “Mom,” Obeline, cheered from the stands. This summer Melissa traveled to the World Transplant Games in Canada where she brought home the team bronze medal.
Throughout all this success and joy, Melissa never forgets her donor, Obeline. “Each day, when I look in the mirror, I remember how lucky I am,” Melissa says. “I know that I am alive to be a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and athlete because my donor’s family was able to feel beyond the pain of losing Joan to say, ‘Yes.’”
Obeline and Melissa remain close. Together they share a bittersweet anniversary when they annually celebrate Joan’s life and the anniversary of Melissa’s transplant.
“Obeline is an amazing woman,” says Melissa. She delights in my athletic successes, in my children’s growth, and in my birthdays and holidays.”
This June Melissa and Obeline will travel to Louisville for the 2006 National Kidney Foundation Transplant Games where Melissa will hopes to win more medals and once again celebrate her second chance at life.
