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Quilt Display Shares Powerful Stories of Donation
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March 29, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY - Throughout history, quilts have been known to carry messages, share feelings and tell stories in fabrics, colors and patterns. This tradition is vividly evident in the seven quilts on display at the Oklahoma State Capitol 1st Floor northeast entrance hallway (just east of the 1st Floor Rotunda) from April 2-6, 2007.
These quilts tell hundreds of stories about organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation. This display is designed to celebrate April as National Donate Life Month.
The display is sponsored by the HOPE Transplant Support Group, LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma and Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute (NZTI) at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City.
The display includes three donor quilts, which illustrate the remarkable gift of life through donation and tell the stories of heroes who were organ, eye and/or tissue donors. “The donor quilts provide our families an opportunity to give the public a very small glimpse of their loved one such as their hobbies, personal quotes and beliefs. Most importantly, the quilts are a source of pride for our families by uniting their loved one’s square with others who believed in the donation process and giving the gift of life,” says Julie Avants, donor family representative for LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma.
The four recipient quilts in the display illustrate the miracle of transplantation and tell the stories of hundreds of recipients who have been blessed with the gift of life through organ, eye or tissue transplants. “The HOPE Transplant Support Organization is excited to present our recipient quilts with the donor quilts from LifeShare of Oklahoma. The donor quilts reflect the depth of a love for life which is seen in giving the gift of life to strangers. This gift of life would not be possible for us without the donors - which these quilts represent. The recipient quilts are a beautiful way to share the heart-felt thanks of the recipients and their families for a second chance at life with the people of Oklahoma,” says Carmen Eppler, HOPE President and liver recipient of ten years.
Nicolas Jabbour, M.D., director of the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute, shares the following quote by transplant pioneer Dr. Thomas Starzl, which describes the NZTI mission. “No one understands our achievements better than our recipients. It is true that transplant surgeons saved patients, but the patients rescued us in turn and gave meaning to what we did, or tried to do."
Be an organ, eye and tissue donor.
www.lifeshareregistry.org
SPONSORS
HOPE Transplant Support Organization, Inc. is an independent not-for-profit organization whose mission is to inspire hope in the transplant candidate, recipient and donor families through the promotion of donation awareness, the presentation of educational opportunities, and the provision of comfort, support and encouragement throughout the transplant process. www.txhope.org
LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma, Inc., is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization certified and designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the organization dedicated to recovering organs for transplantation in all 77 counties of the state of Oklahoma. LifeShare also recovers tissues in Oklahoma for transplantation in the state and across the country. www.lifeshareoklahoma.org
The Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute (NZTI) at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City is the state's only comprehensive transplant program. The institute ranks among the top comprehensive programs in the nation for survival rates, according to data gathered by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
www.integrisNZTI.com
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INTEGRIS Health Corporate Communications
3030 N.W. Expressway
Suite 1620
Oklahoma City, 73112
(405) 951-4826 |
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