New Life Rises by Paula Valle
The Carrier’s place a rose on the New Life Rises float, in dedication to Paullete’s son, Rodney Grindstaff (in picture), who passed away in 1989 due to a stroke.
In December of 1989, Paulette Carrier’s 22-year-old son Rodney Grindstaff suffered a stroke, which took his life. The Carrier family decided to give the ‘Gift of Life’ by donating Rodney’s organs. In 1989, a donation of three or even four organs was not uncommon, but Rodney was able to successfully donate seven organs, which were transplanted into six recipients. In addition, to the six lives that were saved, others gained sight from his corneas and surgeries were later performed using his tendons and bone marrow. On December 29th Paulette traveled to Pasadena from Groveland to the 121st Rose Parade to place a dedicated rose on the Donate Life Rose Parade Float, New Life Rises, in honor of Rodney’s donation 20 years ago. Paulette’s dedicated rose joined 2,000 others in a garden that will be featured inside on the float. Each rose carried a personal message of love, gratitude and hope to a donor, recipient or candidate for transplant. Throughout the day, other families and representatives of local businesses also placed roses in honor of loved ones touched by organ, eye, and tissue donations.
The Carrier’s of Groveland place a rose on the New Life Rises float for the 121st Rose Parade in Pasadena.
The Donate Life Rose Parade Float was supported by nearly 60 official partners from across the nation, including organ and tissue recovery organizations, for-profit contributors, transplant centers, and transplant recipient organizations. Donate Life salutes the importance of the Hispanic community’s contribution to organ, tissue and blood donation by also presenting the float’s logo in Spanish, “Done Vida.”
The float, New Life Rises, represented a phoenix, the mythical symbol of life, coming out of the ashes of death and rising from a bed of flames into the sky. The Donate Life phoenix represents those who give life in their passing and the people whose lives are renewed through organ transplantation. Adorning the bird’s tail feathers are dozens of floragraphs – artistic portraits created with floral materials – of organ, eye and tissue donors from across the country.
The beautifully decorated New Life Rises float represented a phoenix, the mythical symbol of life, coming out of the ashes of death.
Paulette is a volunteer with the California Transplant Donor Network. The California Transplant Donor Network saves and improves lives by facilitating organ and tissue donation for transplantation. The Transplant Network helps 160 hospitals in 40 Northern and Central California and Northern Nevada counties and offers the option of organ and tissue donation to families whose loved ones have died, coordinates deceased organ recovery and placement, and provides public education with the hope that every resident will become a donor. It is federally designated as this region’s organ recovery organization. For more information, visit www.ctdn.org or call 1-888-570-9400. For more information about the Donate Life Rose Parade Float, visit www.donatelifefloat.org.
If more people were as generous as Rodney Grindstaff, we wouldn’t have over 9,000 Americans dying every year waiting for organ transplants. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year.
There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage – give donated organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.
Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren’t willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 13,400 members.
Please contact Dave Undis, Executive Director of LifeSharers, if your readers would like to learn more about our innovative approach to increasing the number of organ donors. He can arrange interviews with some of our local members if you’re interested. His email address is daveundis@lifesharers.org. His phone number is 615-351-8622.
January 9th, 2010 at 12:26 pm