Ursuline student sparks organ donation awareness

By Elizabeth Teran, Ursuline Academy
Photo | COURTESY URSULINE ACADEMY

In eighth grade two years ago, I started volunteering for Legacy Donor Foundation. That experience prompted me to raise awareness and educate my peers about organ donation.

This year, I starting Operation Donation at Ursuline Academy, and we now have 15 members.

On Jan. 6, we held a “Neon Night” basketball game – our first official fundraiser – in Ursuline’s Ourso Gym to benefit the Legacy Donor Foundation and the Transplant Games of America. We raised approximately $2,000.

After meeting with our basketball coach and Operation Donation’s executive board about ideas for the game, we decided to honor four organ recipients at halftime and give them each a small gift.

One of our guests was celebrating her third heart “re-birthday” since her heart transplant, so we surprised her with a cake and sang happy birthday.

It is amazing how a little idea blossomed into reality.

I started this club in the belief that it’s not smart to take organs with you once you die – when you can help save others’ lives.

I have told my parents many times that I don’t understand why people would want to keep their organs after death. I am very passionate about this, but I have to remind myself that organ donation is an individual decision. I am fortunate to understand how donating organs can save a person’s life.

Grateful recipients

I have met some of the happiest people in the world – people who faced death but who didn’t let death win. They were given the gift of life through organ donation and gained their life back. Through our club, I want people to see the joy that organ donation brings.

The basketball game was actually the third event I hosted to raise awareness about organ donation.

Before the club was established, I held a donor awareness table at lunch on Feb. 14, which is National Donor Day. I had heart-shaped suckers with “Donate Life” stickers on them, pencils and pamphlets. I was able to gauge the interest of students who later joined my club.

In the spring of 2019, I hosted a table with games at Ursuline’s Field Day to again raise awareness and education. This event had a much bigger turnout, and many students asked about the club.

Many people assume our goal is to get people to register to be a donor, but people should not be pressured into such an important decision.

We actually do not talk much about registering people to be donors. We talk about how being a donor can change your life, someone else’s life and your family’s life. The more knowledge the club members have, the more they can talk about it to their peers.

A lot of people do not know the truth about organ donation. Some people think that if they become a donor that they won’t get the medical treatment necessary to survive. This is totally false, because doctors do not look to see if you are a donor until you are actually brain dead.

Building a supportive base

Our club’s hope is to build a strong community of members to be advocates to their peers and speak about how organ donation can change a person’s life. We want to give students the education and knowledge they need to make their own decision about becoming an organ donor.

The club has a six-person executive board and a club moderator. I hope to see the club thriving by the time I go to college so that “Neon Night” takes off and becomes an annual event and I can return to see it.

Having organ donation as a part of my life in high school is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

I plan to still be club president as a junior and still run Neon Night and other events for the rest of high school. I plan to keep raising awareness as long as I can.

I would love to see that one day I don’t have to educate people about organ donation because everyone will support it to the point where everyone knows exactly what it means.

Elizabeth Teran is a sophomore at Ursuline Academy.