DONATION FILLS VOID WHEN SON DIES AT 3

A year ago Paul and Kathy Breitenstein watched and read reports on the annual Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week Walk in Cape Girardeau. On Thursday, the Breitenstein family marched in the 1993 walk, this time as a donor family.

"After seeing last year's news accounts of the march, we discussed how vital it must be to give life to another," said Paul Breitenstein, an emergency medical technician with the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

"A year ago, we never realized that within 24 hours we would be making an organ donor decision," he added.

The Breitensteins' son Seth, 3, died in an accident April 22, 1992, one day after last year's donor awareness walk, "He has passed on life and hope for other families," Breitenstein told a gathering of about 300 people participating in the 1993 Organ & Tissue Donor Awareness Walk in downtown Cape Girardeau.

He said that as a youngster, he was told the word "death" meant "passing on."

"We hope you don't have to make an organ donation decision right away, but we do urge people to talk about it," said Breitenstein. "Organ donations is a meaningful way to pass something on life."

"There is a tremendous void in your life when you lose a child, but organ donation can help fill that void," he added. "The past year has been one of bitter sweetness for us. We know that some people have been helped by our decision."

Breitenstein, who has been a member of the fire department nine years, his wife Kathy, and two children, Zachary, 8, and Whitney, 6, were among many organ donor families taking part in the walk which started in front of KFVS-TV, and proceeded to the Downtown Pavilion on South Main Street.

"This is up from a year ago," said Lucy Nile, of the Mid-America Transplant Association (MTA), headquartered in St. Louis. She said the organization was pleased that so many people turned out for the annual event. "It has grown larger each year. Last year, we had about 200 marchers."

The Cape Girardeau walk is comparable with others throughout the state, noted Nile. "We usually average between 300 and 400 people at Springfield and St. Louis.

In addition to the marchers in this year's downtown trek, the Capaha Antique Car Club had several units in the parade, which was led by members of the Cape Girardeau Police and Fire departments.

Sponsors for the walk are St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, KFVS, and (MTA).