ORGAN RECIPIENTS CELEBRATE SECOND CHANCE

Rhonda Abbott can walk, run and ride a bicycle these days.

"I never could do these things before," said Abbott, a Cape Girardeau housewife. "This is a brand new life for me."

Abbott, who received a lung transplant almost a year ago, took part in a transplant awareness march Wednesday from St. Francis Medical Center, across Route K, to center court in West Park Mall, where a brief program was conducted to observe National Organ & Tissue Donor Awareness Week.

"This is the fourth year for the awareness walk," said Cheri Huckstep-Reed, coordinator of St. Francis' organ and tissue donation program and organizer of the walk. "This year we are pleased to have five persons in the march who have had organ transplants."

Also participating in the march, which attracted about 90 people, was Steve Huckstep, organ procurement coordinator of Mid America Transplant Association headquartered at St. Louis.

"We service the St. Louis area, Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas," said Huckstep. "We have a transplant waiting list of about 300 people in these areas, with about half of them kidney patients."

A year ago a total of 69 donors in the region gave 219 vital organs for transplant. Cape Girardeau hospitals accounted for six vital organ donations, four bone donations, two heart valve donations, and 21 eye donations during 1990.

"In many cases the donation of an organ or tissue can offer a new hope to a person who has lost a loved one," said Huckstep. "It is an ultimate gift. It is an option that everyone has."

Huckstep, a registered nurse, said more than 20,000 people nationally were on waiting lists.

"That's why it is so important to make potential donors aware of the benefits of the organ and tissue donation program," he said. "People like Rhonda Abbott are good examples of the program's benefits."

Abbott said she is enjoying a completely different life since she received her lung transplant in May 1990.

"It'll soon be a year," she said. "Before the transplant, I couldn't run and had difficulty walking. I was on oxygen almost two years.

Abbott's parents, LeRoy and Ann Ruch of Millersville, who also participated in Wednesday's walk, told more about Abbott's illness and operation.

Rhonda, one of six children, had problems throughout her life, said Ann Ruch. "She had many problems, but we would never give up, even when she was taken to St. Louis to await a transplant."

LeRoy Ruch said: "We feel we were fortunate. She was only there a short time when a lung was donated and everything matched up for her."

Ann Ruch said: "We had never realized the importance of transplants before. You have to be a recipient to really realize that. But look at Rhonda now: she can do so many things she could never do before."

She married Dave Abbott after recuperating from the lung transplant. They make their home in Cape Girardeau.

"I'm looking forward to my first transplant anniversary," said Abbott. "I'm going on a shopping spree, and I don't think Dave will mind."

Wallace Vehrs of Marble Hill, who also participated, said he had a kidney transplant in February 1989.

"I'll always remember Valentine's Day of 1989," he said. "That's the day they called from St. Louis to inform me a kidney was available. I didn't waste any time; I jumped into the car and headed for St. Louis University Medical Center and had the operation the next day.

"A lot of people have told me they would have to think about it first," he said. "I had already thought about it, and when the call came, I just said do it."

Vehrs said he was 100 percent for the transplant program. "That's why I'm here today," he said. "There are not enough organs to go around."

Also participating in the march was Donna Illers, wife of the late Dennis Illers, and her three children and two Scout troops: Daisy Troop 120 and Brownie Troop 272, both of Jackson.

Illers' husband, Dennis Illers, was also on a waiting list in early 1990.

"He was waiting for a kidney and pancreas," said Illers. "His condition became worse, and his brother agreed to be a kidney donor, and a date was set for the operation."

Dennis Illers died the day before the operation was to take place.

"I've been active in the transplant awareness program since," she said. "There are just too many people on the waiting lists and not enough donors."