WALK SALUTES ORGAN, TISSUE DONATION WEEK

A banner contest and a five-block walk are among highlights of National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week in Cape Girardeau this week.

Area residents who want to spread "The Light of Life Pass It On" theme are invited to take part in the sixth annual walk, to be held Thursday.

The walk starts at 6 p.m. at the KFVS tower, Broadway and Lorimier, and finishes at the Downtown Pavilion on Main Street, across from Hutson Furniture Co.

"We've invited a lot of recipients and donor families too," said Cheri Huckstep Reed, patient care manager of ICU at St. Francis Medical Center, who helps coordinate organ donation efforts for the hospital.

The walks gets a little bigger each year, Reed said. "Last year we had about 200. We're hoping for that many or more again this year."

At the end of the walk, a short presentation will be given, refreshments served and attendance prizes awarded. One of the attendance prizes this year will be St. Louis Cardinal baseball tickets and dinner for two at Mike Shannon's Restaurant in St. Louis.

Sponsors for the walk are St. Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri Hospital, KFVS, and Mid-America Transplant Association (MTA).

A highlight of the walk will be a banner contest depicting the organ and tissue donation theme.

"It is not necessary to pre-register for the banner contest," said Reed. "Schools and organizations are welcome to prepare and carry their banners during the walk."

Contest prizes include an Imo's Pizza Party for 10 and a group train ride on the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Southern Railway.

National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week, which starts Monday, is designed to promote public information on the need for organ and tissue donations and how one can become a donor, and to encourage individuals to discuss their wishes with family members.

"It also honors the families who have given organs and tissue," said Reed.

One donor, Reed noted, can save or improve the lives of 40 to 50 people with the donation of up to seven vital organs, including the heart, kidneys, eyes and lungs, and bone and soft tissues.

Despite record high organ and tissue procurement last year, the need for donated organs and tissue is greater than ever, said Dean Kappel, president and CEO of Mid-America Transplant Association.

Mid-America Transplant Association is based in St. Louis and coordinates the procurement of all vital organs throughout Missouri, Southern Illinois and northeastern Arkansas. A subsidiary, the Mid-American Eye and Tissue Bank (MAETB), procures bone, heart valves, saphenous vein, and eyes for transplant.

"In 1992, we established record highs in our area," said Kappel. "We exceeded national donation rates." While the total number of organ donors nationally remained the same as 1991 (4,500), MTA and MAETB established a new region one-year highs with 88 organ donors, a 10 percent increase over 1992; 149 bone and soft tissue donors, a five percent increase; and 865 eye donors, a 33.5 percent increase.

Kappel attributed the increase largely to "a greater awareness and acceptance of organ donation throughout our service region."

He cautioned, however, that the need for organs has never been greater.

"In spite of a regional increase in donors, the number of people waiting for organ transplants has grown even faster," he said. "There are now more than 30,000 nationally, and 572 in our local area waiting for life-saving transplants. That's a 20 percent increase from one year ago. Unfortunately, many of these people will die before a suitable matching organ becomes available."

MTA attributes the growth in the waiting list to advance in medical technology. Because transplant surgery has become so routine and successful, more people are being considered as transplant candidates and are being placed on waiting lists, said Kappel.

In Cape Girardeau, Reed said, the number of organ donors remains constant. A big part of Reed's job is public awareness for the program and education about organ donation and transplantation.

"People realize now that transplantation is not experimental any more, and that it really works. Everybody knows somebody who has had a transplant," she said.

Reed said cornea transplants are performed at both Cape Girardeau hospitals. And some donor bone materials are used in orthopedic and neuro-surgery locally.

Reed said the benefits to recipients are evident. These recipients are given a second chance at a normal life.