By Dennis J. Freeman
Pasadena, California-Kara Thio has had 20 years to be grateful for the life she has. It is a young life that was nearly snuffed out by a rare disease, which required the then eight-month-old Thio to get a liver transplant. Thio’s parents searched high and low for the right donor transplant that could save their daughter’s life.
Living in North Carolina, Thio’s parents wound up in California, where their search landed them at California Pacific Medical Center. A donor match for little Kara was found. A two-year –old boy, Adam, on vacation with his parents, became the lifeline to Thio’s survival.
Adam was the unfortunate victim of a tragic car accident that would take his life. Today, Adam lives through Thio, a young woman who beams with radiance and a glowing smile. Thio came back to town to share her story, along with other donor recipients, about the giving of life.
Thio and 27 other individuals, representing transplant recipients, donors and donor candidates, rode on the Donate Life float during the Tournament of Roses Parade to highlight the importance of organ donation. The Donate Life float carried portraits and paintings of 72 deceased individuals who have given life to other people through their organ donations.
Holding up a portrait of Adam before she boarded the Donate Life float, Thio is almost at a loss for words in describing her emotions about being on the receiving end of a donor donation.
“At that time, pediatric liver transplants were kind of experimental where I’m from…My parent had to look around the country for another place,” Thio said in an interview with News4usonline.com. “Fortunately there was a liver that became available for me while I was in the hospital. I am very grateful and very fortunate that I was able to receive Adam’s liver.”
Aside from Thio, survivors of organ donors are the recipients of people who come all walks of life. Organ donors have come through tragic car accidents. They have come by way of deadly drive-by shootings, sports-related fatalities and natural causes. According to the Donate Life of America website, as many as 28,000 people are beneficiaries of organ donations annually in the United States.
“Every donor counts when the waiting list for life-saving organs continues to grow while the circumstances for organ donation to be possible are so rare,” said Bryan Stewart, chairman of the Donate Life float committee and vice president of communications at OneLegacy, the nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization serving the greater Los Angeles area.
“By honoring these 72 individuals, we hope to remind people that donors have the power to save up to eight lives and heal 50 more through organ, eye and tissue donation. We can all make a difference by joining their state donor registries.”
Thio knows all too well the importance of the donation of organ to help save someone else’s life. Being the recipient of an organ donation, Thio believes more and more lives can be saved through this process.
“It is so important. I don’t think a lot of people realize it because they don’t always see the direct impact of it,” Thio said. “But it changes people’s lives. It gave me a life.”
Thio went on to added that while she is forever grateful for second chance to live, she hurts for Adam’s parents and family for the loss of their son.
“It’s the most horrible thing that can happen on vacation,” Thio said “I was really scared to meet them. I write to them every year, but I’ve been able to meet them in person a couple of times. I was a little afraid to meet them, because what do you say? There are no words that can really describe how grateful you are. They are so selfless. I am truly blessed to have gotten to know my donor’s family. They are such wonderful people.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.