Conemaugh Nason: Organ Donation 'Gives Hope to So Many'

Becoming an organ donor takes little time and can save more than one life in the process.

April is the National Donate for Life Month and to celebrate, Conemaugh Nason Medical Center held a flag-raising ceremony Tuesday, April 2, in connection to the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE).

The hospital has been supporting the cause since 2016, though CORE was founded in 2006.

Since its inception, over 50,000 flags have been raised across the United States.

“Today, Nason is one of the thousands of hospitals bringing awareness to the cause,” CNMC liaison Barbra Ritchey said.

Every year, Donate for Life America chooses a theme for the month. This year’s was centered around the night sky.

“The stars serve to remind us that, even on the darkest night, there is still light,” said Jessica Yokubeak, CORE’s director of Operations. “Just as stars illuminate the night sky, so do donations, giving light and hope to so many.”

She said how last year, they had managed to break their own record for the fifth year in a row, reaching 928 organs and 1,003 corneas, along with over 100,00 tissue donations

“Specifically, here at Conemaugh Nason, you made a difference to 600 tissue recipients,” she said.

There were also 8 cornea donations from the CNMC donors.

CNMC’s CEO Tim Harclerode was proud to say that the hospital was part of the cause. Not too long ago, the need for a donation had hit close to home.

“When my great nephew was born, he was almost immediately put on a waiting list,” he said.

“But thanks to amazing physicians in Pittsburgh, he is now off the list and is on the go all the time,” he said.

As opposed to having more than one speaker, medical staff coordinator Jessica White presented three stories to those in attendance. Each one regarded someone close to her who had either received or given an organ. Photos of these loved ones were on display as she spoke.

The first story regarded her friend, Jaime Henderson, who is a living kidney donor. Speaking through Henderson’s own words, White explained how her friend Christina had been in need of a donation when they were teenagers.

“I knew she had some health issues, including damaged kidneys,” White said in the voice of Henderson.

Born with rickets, Christina was able to get some help, but would eventually need surgery and a new kidney. This, according to White, did not faze Henderson.

“I told her that when the time came for the transplant, she could have one of mine,” she said.

Whenever Christina ended up needing help, Henderson went on to take various tests. She learned she was a blood and tissue match. In August of 2023, she had the surgery.

“We are now seven months post-surgery, and not only am I fully recovered, but Christina is doing well,” White continued in Henderson’s voice.

Years later, Henderson’s tale would serve as an inspiration for her own teenage daughter, who has signed up to be a donor.

White next went on to talk about her aunt Barbara Bucher, a recipient, and her mother Peggy Bucher Mattern, who was a donor.

“This is a story of two sisters who in three months of each other were on either side of organ donation side of life,” she said.

For her aunt, White said Bucher began showing signs of ailing in 2005. However, it was not until 2008 that it started becoming worse.

It turned out that her liver was not working at all. After having an MRI, she learned she had Stage IV primary biliary cirrhosis, which is rare for women of her age.

“If it the disease is found before reaching Stage IV, daily medications would be sufficient for survival,” White said.

However, due to its advancement, surgery was a must.

Fortunately, doctors were able to get her a liver from a New Jersey woman who was undergoing surgery.

The liver was originally a success but soon led to problems for Bucher. It turned out there was a blood clot where the new organ was placed. Surgeons had to take out the liver and reattach it after removing the clot. This technically made Bucher a double transplant recipient.

Though there have been trials such as learning to walk again and contracting pneumonia, Bucher has been living a healthy life with the liver for 15 years.

During this time, White said her mother was by her aunt’s side, despite being estranged for years.

“Even though she hadn’t spoken to her sister in over 14 years, my mother drove over two hours to sit in a waiting room to hear that her sister would be okay,” she said.

Not too long after her aunt went through this life-altering journey, tragedy hit White’s family when her mother suffered a fall that left her with head trauma.

Although the family asked the hospital to pull the plug, she was kept on life support due to being an organ donor. They had to wait until she was pronounced brain-dead.

Despite hoping for a miracle, a change never occurred. After being declared brain dead, White said CORE was on-site to explain the next steps in the process.

“We told them to take whatever they could,” White said.

The next day, after being pronounced dead on the operating table, her organs began to be harvested.

“They found recipients for her lungs, liver, skin, and corneas,” White said.

When harvesting, it was found that her liver was beginning to harden from the same disease as her sister, and her kidneys were also damaged. However, everything else was able to be donated.

After taking her time to heal, White reached out to CORE to find out how the recipients were doing. While the liver recipient had passed on, the rest were doing fine.

“I found out that her corneas and skin were helping many people survive,” she said.

After going through all of these experiences, White said it was a blessing to watch.

“Seeing my aunt thrive and knowing my mom helped others survive is bittersweet, but organ donation is a wonderful gift,” she said.

Due to the weather, the group was unable to hang the flag on the hospital’s flagpole at the conclusion of the event. Instead, they held it up for photos. Once the weather lightened, the flag was raised.

Even though April is the month CORE raises awareness about donating, organs are needed all through the year.

As Harclerode said, Ritchey herself works “tirelessly” all year to get people to sign up.

“We should not just discuss it with one or two people,” he said. “We should talk about it with everyone. Talk to anyone you can any time you can.”

In the United States, there are over 100,000 individuals waiting to receive an organ, cornea, or skin donation. Within that number, 7,000 are located in Pennsylvania.

For more information on Donate for Life or how to participate, visit the CORE website at http://www.core.org.

Signing up to be a donor in Pennsylvania only requires an individual’s license or state ID number, date of birth, and last four digits of their Social Security number. This can be completed at http://www.donatelifepa.org.

“You never know when it’s going to be you or someone you love,” Harclerode said. “If you have reservations, talk to someone. If you don’t, sign the dotted line and become a donor.”