CTV - Canada A.M. be a donor - How things have changed!

Donors and recipients get together to discuss organ & tissue donation in Canada. 

MEMORIES

This newscast brought back more than a few memories and I have to sit back and smile when I think of how some things have changed over these past years.

• 
  I now think back to the time of when we first became a donor family in May of 1993.
• 
  I recall how I went to our local paper asking them to share our good news and how I was told by the editor at that time that it couldn't be done. This editor had stated that, it was considered to much of a controversial subject for them to cover.
• I remember how shocked I was and wondered how a person moves on when people have this kind of attitude.
• I also remember how it took 6 years to find a local reporter to do a story about Tasha's Wish and how grateful I was at that time.
• Since that time, as I did move on things did get better and I now think of how our local media has done such a spectacular job in promoting this cause.
• 
  As the years went by and as I struggled to fulfill Tasha's wish that I educate myself as others on this subject I remember all the ups and downs.
• 
  I remember all the wonderful individuals that we have met and I especially remember all of those that gave us a helping hand.

Now I see what is happening today and I think of how more and more people are opening their minds and hearts on the subject of donation.

With all of this I hope that the respect of individual choices should never be forgotten, I pray that we all keep in mind that there are those that aren't comfortable in discussing this subject, and we need to make sure that they are respected.

With all that I have learnt over these past years I believe that Canada can be a leader in this cause and that they can do it by respecting the wishes of all, without taking away the rights of any of our fellow Canadians.

God bless and take care.

Maria

Busy time and sad time and I'm trying to keep up

Dear Friends

I would like to say that I am trying to keep up even though it can be a bit difficult.

For those of you that are just getting to know me, I'm a grandma that takes care of my grandson Max while his parents are at work.

Max and I do many things during the time that he spends with me. Things like play group, shopping and visiting his granny and the seniors home. At times Max also comes with me when I am asked to do presentations, like this one time on May 8th.

On May 8th I was so thankful to have the school, Peace River High, invite me to speak to their grade nine students.

My friend, Claudette came to help and watch Max and we spent over an hour at the school.

During this time, the grade nine students worked on banners and I explained to them why I was there and what the banner campaign was about.

The staff took a lot of pictures for the school news letter and they asked me to write a little something that they could also use. (I'm also hoping to have a few pictures of this event that I can post asap)

This was the brief message that I gave for the newsletter.

Information about the banner and the presentation.

It is an year long campaign and an attempt to promote family discussions on the subject of organ and tissue donation. We would also like to have Canadians set a Guinness World Book Record for the Longest Banner in the World, on May 5th 2013

Please note

When I was asked to do this presentation on May 8th, it was a very significant and special day for me. This was due to it being the 19th anniversary of Tasha becoming an organ and tissue donor.

Also this year is a very special year not only due to doing the launch of this year long campaign it is due to Tasha's Heart Family going public by asking fellow Canadians to assist with this banner campaign.

For those that would like more information or would like to see pictures of special events and the banners that have been done to date they can look us up on

my blog at worldslongestbanner@blogspot.com

Twitter at longestbanner20

on Face book at - World's Longest Banner for Organ & Tissue Donation.

and I'm also working on a web-page and hopefully I'll have it up and running soon.

www.worldslongestbanner.org

If you would like to contact me you can call or email me at stranaghan2@gmail.com or phone 780-624-4337

The month of May is such an emotional month for us to begin with and then tragedy strikes again -  

This week on May 17th - we lost another family member in a collision, he was a cousin, a great young man and only 26 years old, and it's such a sad time for us all.

I've been in this family for 40 years now and all I can say is that they are such a nice and loving family - I just hate the thoughts of them having to go through this and I wish that it hadn't happened to them.

For those of you that pray - please keep us in your prayers.

Take care and God bless.

The Record - Gazette - Peace River AB - Stories - Past and present

I'm playing with my blog, wondering how to add some of the stories that have been done by our local paper to help promote the cause.

So here is attempt number 1

:-)


Kick-start of campaign to create the world’s longest banner coming up - Peace River Record Gazette - Alberta, CA

Peace River woman shooting for Guinness World Record to raise awareness for organ and tissue donation - Peace River Record Gazette - Alberta, CA

Too cool ...it worked.

Vision For Banner

We are looking for fellow Canadians to help set a Guinness World Book Record for Canada.

This record attempt will be for Longest Banner in the World

Why are we doing this?

To promote discussions on the subject of organ & tissue donation.

How, we would like to achieve this goal.

The way donation happens, one person at a time, therefore one meter at a time.

What we would like to happen after this Guinness World Book Attempt.

We would like for the banner to be recycled and used as a promotional tool in participating communities across Canada.

How can the banners be recycled?

EXAMPLES

They can be sold as artwork, used in making quilts and used for clothing and clothing accessories.

Our Final Goal

To promote National Transplant Games and assist Canadian athletes (Transplant Recipients) with additional funding for National Games and World Transplant Games events.

National Transplant Games 2012, start on July 16th in Calgary Alberta.

To volunteer or participate in these games

Contact the CTA, (Canadian Transplant Association) for more information.

Maria Stranaghan

Donor family and proud member of CTA

A donor wish story - #1 Peace River

After Tahsa became an organ & tissue donor, people started coming to me, letting me know how their loved ones also had the donor wish.

The little girl in this story was one of my second daughters  best friends.

It was so hard to see my Crystal loose her friend Rose especially when she was still reeling from the death of her older sister Tasha.

How do you comfort a child in a case like this?

When I sat there struggling with these emotions Crystal came home from school one day, to tell me that her friend had also wanted to be a donor - and she was so proud of that.

How do you survive at a time like this?

At a time like this you count every little blessing that you can, holding on to the belief that something good and positive happened even if it was only a wish to help others.

So now I share with you the first donor wish story that I was told by a mom that was just as proud as I was, that her daughter also wanted to help others. 

Take care and God bless,

Maria  


The Story of Rose -

Rosemarie Jane Lizotte-Briscoe

September 16, 1983 – December 11, 1994

My daughter, Rose, and I had a very ‘enlightening’ conversation in the summer of 1992. It was a quiet lazy evening and as usual we were watching T.V. I momentarily left the room and when I returned Rose had a questionable look on her face. She proceeded to ask “how do I donate my organs when I die?” I thought this was quite an unusual question for a nine year old to be asking. I looked at her and asked her “why?” “Well I just seen a T.V. commercial to sign the back of your driver’s license if you would like your organs donated, but I’m too young to drive” she replied. I asked “is this what you want?” She quickly answered “yes”. I assured Rose her wish would be known.

Our daughter died two years later and unfortunately the disease that took her life we were unable to fulfill her wish as none of her organs were salvageable. I would of never considered donating her organs in the first place if she hadn’t discussed this years earlier.

May be we should all consider having this conversation with our children. Death is a part of life and so should organ donation to promote life in others.

I am your average Canadian, yet am not.

1. I am an average Canadian that believes in the donation of organs and tissues.
2. I am an average Canadian that, believes everyone’s wishes to donate should be respected.
3. I am an average Canadian that believes, if people don’t want to donate or can’t donate and those that don’t want to discuss the subject or can’t discuss this subject should be treated with the utmost respect and that their wishes should also be respected.
4. I am an average Canadian that says when the time comes and if it’s possible, I want the donation of my organs & tissues to happen.
5. I am an average Canadian that believes our government should address the donation of organs & tissues at a national level and that they have a way to do it.
6. I am an average Canadian that believes we should have a national health link because, it is needed and I also believe that we can address the donation of organs and tissues through this link.
7. I am an average Canadian that doesn’t believe donor registries are safe and won’t put my name on a National donor registry, no matter how much gobble –de-goop; they try to feed me about how safe these registries are.
8. I am an average Canadian that believes the donation of organs and tissues should be a family issue and not a government issue.
9. I am an average Canadian that believes the poor and the helpless should not be exploited for their organs & tissues.
10. I am not an average Canadian because I am a donor mom.
11. I am not an average Canadian because I have had the privilege of meeting one of our child’s recipients
12. I am not an average Canadian because I know both sides of the story when it comes to the subject of donation and I also know how donors, recipients and those that say no to donation have been treated and can be treated unjustly.
13. I am not an average Canadian because, of previous work, I believe we need to address the issue of infectious illness at the same time as discussing the subject of donation of organs & tissues.
14. I am not an average Canadian because I have been educating myself and others on this subject since we received our letter from the donor registry stating that our second eldest had become a donor.
15. I am not an average Canadian because I know that even though I know many Canadians may want to donate their organs & tissues that their wishes may never come true.
16. I am not an average Canadian because I have tried to address this issue in rural Canada and I know the pitfalls in trying to educate and donate in these areas.
17. I am not an average Canadian because I attend the National Transplant games and I have had the honor and privilege of meeting many transplant recreants and I know how much it hurts them to know, that someone had to die so that they could live.
18. I am not an average Canadian because I have met many donor families in my area, and I know of more that wanted to donate but couldn’t.
19. I am not an average Canadian because I have family that loves me no matter what, friends that have stuck by me until the day they died and community members that have supported this cause and supports this cause enough to do things to help bring about a positive change.
20. I am an average Canadian and not an average Canadian, my name is Maria and I live in Peace River Alberta.

Banner - Day 1 - a draft Report

Dear Reader.

I want you to know that, I will come back to this post and share more information with you.

I also want you to know that in the near future I will have some pictures and wonderful stories about that day to share with you.

For the time beinging I want you to know that there weren't many of us there but is  was a good day.

For now, a brief update.

We had 60 banners sewn together 2 on display and other banners brought in during the event.

30 individuals signed in and signed the commemorative banner and since they were also in attendance, the names of a 3 week old baby and the name of my 2 1/2 year old grandson were also added to the banner.

To display the banner -

It was necessary for us to use some of the lamp posts in the park, and a few of the participants, some of whom were very camera shy, 13 in total ( 7 adults and 6 children)  held the banner up for us so that we could take a few pictures.

For the free draw.

The winner of the limited addition Spirit quilt was a young lady. This youngster shows representation from both a donor as well as a recipient family.

We were very fortunate to have 2 reporters in attendance, one from the Peace River Record Gazette and the other from Mile Zero News.

For the time being, I will sign off and take a couple of days to recuperate and then I will finish my personal report for this day.

Take care and God bless.

Maria