MEDICAL
{ NONPROFIT }
OUTLIVE
Yourself BY KATHRYN KEMP
In the United States, more than 117,000 people are currently on the waiting list for a life-saving organ, and a new name is added every ten minutes. Each day, 18 people will die waiting. A single donor can save up to eight lives. When Todd and Tara Storch of Coppell, Texas set off with their three children for a family vacation in Vail, Colo., in 2010, they knew very little about organ donation and never imagined how that was about to change. But when their 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, tragically lost her life in a skiing accident, life took on a whole new meaning. As they watched their daughter slip away from them, they were approached by a representative with an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) who had a lifechanging question. “We had never discussed being an organ donor in our family, ever,” Tara said. ”When they came in, they said, ‘You know, she would be a beautiful candidate for organ donation. Would you consider it?’ Todd was standing right there by Taylor and I was sitting down and could hardly breath and Todd looked at me and said, “Yes. That’s exactly what she’d want.’” From there, a whirlwind of questions,
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information and preparation ensued as the young girl was readied to save lives, even after hers was cut short. When the couple returned home to Texas from Colorado, Todd began researching organ donation, the couple’s “lifeline,” Tara said. What he found disturbed him: only 2 percent of the state of Texas was registered, just two out of 100 people, putting Texas at number 48 of the 50 states. From there, Tara said God took hold of her husband and instilled in him a new purpose – to help make a change. Todd also kept remembering something his grandfather often said: “It’s not what happens to you
National median waiting time based on organ from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network: HEART: 113 days LUNG: 141 days LIVER: 361 days KIDNEY: 1,219 days
(that’s six years and hours of dialysis each week.)
PANCREAS: 260 days INTESTINE: 590 days
that matters, it’s how you react to it that does.” “Todd and I very prayerfully decided if we didn’t try to make a difference with this and find the good out of it, then we would be disobedient,” Tara said. “And so that’s where it really kind of all started - with a Google search.” The couple began taking action and working to change the conversation about organ donation to raise awareness and registration numbers through their nonprofit organization, Taylor’s Gift Foundation. Aside from increasing registrations, they also act as a lifeline for families dealing with organ donation, whether on the donor or recipient end. So why aren’t people donating? One reason, Todd said, is because people are not educated on the topic and likely have not discussed it prior to a tragedy. He hopes that eventually the topic will be something people discuss openly and prepare for. “When you’re in that situation, the last thing you want to do is make some kind of big decision that you don’t know anything about.” Todd said. “So the easy thing is to just say, ‘no I don’t want to think about it.’”