Faces of the Games

Tracy CopelandTRACY COPELAND, 41

Lake Tahoe, Nevada

 

Eight years ago, Tracy Copeland lived a full and normal life as a working mother of a 10-year-old daughter and a wife until one February morning when she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that her eyes had turned yellow. A visit with her doctor, another one with a specialist and batteries of tests revealed that she had a form of rapidly progressing liver disease. Tracy was hospitalized on a Friday evening in early March and had slipped into a coma by Monday morning.

 

Fortunately for Tracy, a liver became available right away and two days later she underwent a transplant. Within a month she was home and after several weeks she had returned work.

 

Three months following her transplant, Tracy wrote to the donor family to thank them, hoping that she may hear back and one day have the chance to express her gratitude in person. On the six-month anniversary of her donor’s death, the family wrote back.

 

Terry Snow suffered a tragic motorcycle accident on March 2, 1998. After two operations and many days in a coma, his family made the difficult decision to remove him from life support. His mother, Kathy, knew immediately that something good had to come from such a tragedy. Amidst unimaginable grief, the Snows decided to donate Terry’s organs. What they didn’t understand at the time, however, was the immeasurable love it would one day bring to what then felt like ruined lives. The family returned home to mourn their son’s death. Receiving Tracy’s letter was an important step in that process for the Snow family.

 

On the one-year anniversary of Terry’s death, the Snows drove 10 hours from their home in Southern California to Lake Tahoe to meet Tracy and her family. An emotional gathering ensued. Since this first meeting, the families have grown closer, meeting several times a year and sharing the understanding that each holds a special place in their hearts for the other.

 

In 2002 and 2004, Tracy competed in the National Kidney Foundation Transplant Games where she won medals in cycling and swimming while her family and her donor family were in the stands cheering her on.

 

In 2004, Tracy and her husband entered the very demanding cycling event, The Death Ride, which took them through five California mountain passes, 16,000 feet of climbing and 129 miles of road. The ride, during which Tracy, her husband and a group of friends wore “Donate Life” jerseys inscribed with Terry’s name, took Tracy 11 hours to complete. “It was truly an amazing experience,” recalls Tracy, who plans to enter the event in the summer of 2006, following her “warm up” at the cycling events at the 2006 National Kidney Foundation Transplant Games. “For every mile I completed, I knew there was only one reason I was alive to make the ride – Terry and the generosity of his family.”