A daughter’s love and her selfless decision to donate bone marrow, and life, highlighted the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation during ECU Health Medical Center’s annual Pause to Give Life observance on Wednesday, April 1.
On Oct. 3, 2022, Daneilya Whitney’s mother was diagnosed with acute leukemia. At the time, she and her mother were taking classes to become registered medical assistants (RMAs). Whitney considered abandoning that route in the wake of the diagnosis, but said her mother convinced her to keep pursuing the certification.
“We did the first part of the class together, she was my partner beside me working together,” Whitney, now an RMA, said. “Then she got sick. I had to finish that part myself.”
It was another scary situation for Whitney’s family. Her father died of colon cancer in 2011.
When that happened, an organ donation or transplant was not an option. Her mother remained on the transplant list after two potential bone marrow donors backed out at the last minute. Comprehensive screenings and tests found Whitney was a safe match to donate. The decision was an easy one, Whitney said, and she jumped at the opportunity to give life to the woman who had given it to her.
“I think more people should donate and know that recovery is fine,” Whitney said. “I was strong doing it with four small children, and I recovered in no time. I hope everyone feels the urge to register as a donor.”
Screening consisted of a home cheek swab, blood work and injections to help Whitney safely overproduce bone marrow to donate to her mother. The whole process took a week, she said, which she was able to undergo in tandem with the second part of her RMA test. She said her doctors helped her through the process from its inception to after the bone marrow was harvested.
“It was well worth it, and if I had the option to do it again I would,” Whitney said. “My mom is doing well. She is fully recovered and back to her spicy self.”
Jay Briley, president of ECU Health Medical Center, said that last year the hospital saw 31 organ donors, 76 tissue donors and 75 eye donors. The Medical Center also conducted 96 cornea transplants, eight full globe transplants and could use eight eyes for research.
Pause to Give Life is a national undertaking during Donate Life Month in April. During Wednesday’s observance, ECU Health Police officers raised a “Donate Life” flag to honor donors, their families, people waiting for transplants and recipients given the gift of life. Participants also held a moment of silence at 10:08 a.m., signifying that one donor can save eight lives, to recognize the over 3,000 patients across North Carolina waiting for life-saving transplants.
“It is a joy to have everyone gather for a few minutes to take a mindful pause and reflect on something that is such an important part of what we do,” Briley said.
Cynthia Stone, director of Transplant and Dialysis Services at ECU Health, said the event serves as a small recognition of an incredible gift, naming both deceased donors and living kidney donor patients who selflessly offer a part of themselves to heal another person. The outcomes, she said, are powerful.
“Patients come back to life,” Stone said. “They go from being tied to a dialysis machine three times a week for four hours at a time to being back at work, to being parents or grandparents.”
Over the past few years, Stone said more people have registered as organ, eye and tissue donors. Still, the need for more remains – in eastern North Carolina 564 patients are waiting for kidney donations. Patients can learn more about organ donation and transplantation, at ecuhealth.org/transplant, or they can register as an organ donor on MyChart.