Game of a lifetime…

Three of my high school friends are healthy and active due to the life saving and extraordinary gift of others.

Tonight, I stood in the stands and watched a fantastic game of action packed hockey.  The crowd of family and friends cheered the players…then congratulated the winners before lacing up their skates to join their loved ones and local hockey celebrities for a “family skate”.

Goalie, Trevor Umlah, is a double lung transplant recipient.  His two friends since childhood, Blair Landry and Chris Meagher, are both recipients of kidney donations.  Just this Fall, while waiting for Blair to recover in the hospital, the boys who hung out together at the “jock stop” at Halifax West High School, attended each other’s weddings, celebrated children’s birthdays, played gentlemen’s hockey together and supported one another through difficult times…recognized the uncanny coincidence that rocked their lives and decided they needed to do something to increase organ and tissue donation awareness.

Tonight I attended the First Annual “Life: Pass It On Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Hockey Game” where “Team Recipient” included heart, lung, kidney and tissue recipients along with three of my grateful friends.  “Team Donor” included donors, donor family members, supporters and health care professionals.

In part, the game was to celebrate the lives of the players who have benefitted from organ donation and the precious gift given by their donors…but also as a reminder to sign your donor cards, let loved ones know your wishes and live your life with passion.

This week during Canadian National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week (April 17th to 24th), show your support by taking part in the Green Porch Light Project, installing a green light as a reminder to all to start the difficult conversation with your loved ones…know what their wishes are and register to be an organ donor.  One third of organs that could be donated aren’t, because families are unaware of their loved one’s wishes leaving many, who are waiting for a donation, to die.

Three friends of mine are alive and active due to the generous donation of others.  Tonight, I watched them play hockey…I watched as their children, spouses, family members and friends cheered on their success as they won the well played and much loved game.

It was a game of a lifetime…and so much more.