DONATE LIFE
Parents of organ donor recipient raise flag at YRMC celebration
About five years ago in October, Rudy and Janice Wallace of Yuma were told that their daughter Stacie would not survive through the weekend. But thanks to a life-saving heart transplant, Stacie is still alive and well.
On Wednesday morning, the couple raised the Donate Life flag at Yuma Regional Medical Center to celebrate the miracle of organ, eye and tissue donation.
Bonnie Bolt, Donor Program Coordinator at the Donor Network of Arizona, said the raising was part of National Donate Life Month, which is held in April.
“We partner together with hospitals across the state of Arizona to show awareness and involve the community and hospital staff,” she said.
The Wallaces’ daughter, Stacie Sumandig, was born with a congenital heart defect called coarctation of the aorta, which is a narrowing of the major artery that carries blood away from the heart to the body.
Her parents say she had her first heart surgery at age four and an aortic valve replacement at age 31.
In the fall of 2012, a virus attacked Sumandig’s aortic valve and destroyed her heart. The Wallaces said she was informed at two different hospitals that she would not make it through the weekend.
It was not until Sumandig was transferred to the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle that she was given an option not available at the two previous hospitals: the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart.
In December of that year, she was discharged with a wearable power supply for her artificial heart. While the artificial heart enabled Sumandig to live, she had restrictions.
“She could not take a shower or a bath and had to have someone with her at all times,” Janice recalled.
Sumandig spent about seven months with the artificial heart before receiving a heart transplant. Now, her parents say her quality of life has improved and she is doing well overall at her residence in Washington.
“A donation (such as this) is truly the best, last gift a person can give,” Rudy said during Wednesday’s ceremony.
The flag is located on the west side of the hospital down from the Main Entrance. Bolt noted that one organ donor can potentially save the lives of eight other people.
“Currently, there are 2,200 people in Arizona waiting for that life-saving organ,” she said. “Nationally, there are over 115,000 people waiting for that lifesaving organ.
“In 2017, there were 267 Arizona organ donors that saved 701 lives,” Bolt added. “Here at Yuma Regional there were two organ donors and they saved eight lives together. It was such an incredible, generous decision.”
According to YRMC Spiritual Care Supervisor Cathleen Wolff, the hospital chaplains are designated “requesters” and have conversations with families regarding the possibility of their recently deceased loved one becoming an organ donor. She explained that as per regulation, every death in Arizona has to be reported to an Organ Procurement Organization, (OPO) such as the Donors Network of Arizona.
The chaplain contacts the OPO, then speaks with the family of the deceased.
“What I would encourage people to do is really search into their heart,” she said. “Whether or not they decide to become an organ donor, it’s important just to have those conversations with their family about their end of life. It’s very important to have that conversation when you have a clear mind.”
For more information on the Donor Network of Arizona, call (602) 222-2200.