10,000 walk to honor organ donors, new life

It was great to see such a wonderful turnout for this!

FULLERTON – The line of runners and walkers stretched longer than a football field as they massed Saturday morning for the beginning of the 9th annual Donate Life Run and Walk.
Among the crowd of participants totaling nearly 10,000 at Cal State Fullerton, each had a story to tell. Some celebratory. Some tragic. All filled with hope.

Three generations of Schweers exchange hats during opening ceremonies for the ninth annual Donate Life Run/Walk and Family Festival, a walk to raise money and awareness about the need for organ donations held at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. Fred Schweer, 64, of Mission Viejo received a liver 9 months ago and is now able to exchange hats with his grandson Hudson, 3. Carrying Hudson is Scott Schweer.
KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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The event began in 2003, the idea of Kathleen and Craig Hostert of Fullerton. Kathleen had given her husband a kidney and they wanted to do something to spread the word about the strong need for organ and tissue donation.
Nine years later, the event has grown from a few hundred people to the nearly 10,000 it drew Saturday from across Orange County, as well as Los Angeles, Riverside and beyond.
Many wore T-shirts with the image of a loved one who, in death, had given organs and tissues that gave others a second chance at life.
Others participants were organ and tissue recipients, who came to walk in honor of their donors and celebrate their new lives.

MAYORS WALK

Each year, mayors from several Orange County cities participate to raise awareness in their respective cities about organ donation.
For two of those mayors, the issue became unexpectedly personal.
Former Brea Mayor Bill Lentini and Greg Sowards, Placentia's mayor in 2009, each became ill after the first time they walked. Each received a life-saving liver transplant.
"It's humbling, extremely humbling to be back here as a recipient," said Lentini, 63, who received his transplant in 2007. "I've been signed up as a donor since I was 18 years old, but never imagined I'd be on the receiving end."
Lentini has never met the family of his donor. On Saturday, he made a straight line for the tent where donor families were checking in.
"I just wanted to give them hugs and say, 'Thank you,'" he said. "Who knows, I may have hugged the family of my donor."
Sowards, 62, was back at the walk after receiving his liver just last year.
"I got up at a council meeting to encourage others to come here," he said. "If anything, I want to use my position to let other people know they can help, too."

LIFE CONTINUES BY GIVING

For Shelly Campbell, of Newport Beach, the annual walk is bittersweet. She walks in honor of her son, Brian Scott Campbell, who died 10 years ago while a senior in high school after falling and hitting his head while playing with friends.
Campbell said her son had told her just six months before his death that he wanted to be an organ donor. So his major organs and tissues were transplanted.
"It's the one chance each year that I get to see Brian's old friends. And that's fantastic," she said. "But it's also very difficult because I see them growing up and I wonder what he'd be doing now."
Greg and Jeanne Morales walked in honor of their son, Bryan, who would have turned 23 last week. He died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs three months ago. His organs and tissues were transplanted to help several recipients.
"It's a great feeling for us to be here knowing that our son helped so many people," his dad said. "More than 750 people attended his funeral and they all heard about organ donation.
"We want to keep spreading the word to honor him."
Heather Thommen, 51, of Placentia is a three-time liver recipient. When she heard about the walk, she decided to encourage members of her church, Yorba Linda's Messiah Lutheran, to help.
"We've tried to get out the message that even in hard time, if you can't give money, there are other ways to give," said the Rev. Bob Mooney, himself a tissue recipient to repair his badly damaged knee. So he helped organize a team that included 30 walkers and 20 volunteers.
"There are so many ways to make a contribution – even up to donating life," he said.

ON OTHER SIDE NOW

Ed Ortega has been walking each year since the event began.
The 59-year-old warehouse manager from La Habra had lost his mother and two sisters to kidney disease and his kidneys were failing, too.
He timed his dialysis treatments to ensure he could make the walk each year. Each year his team grew – as did his hopes that he'd finally get a kidney.
On Jan. 10 of this year, his kidney arrived. It was transplanted at USC Medical Center – across the street from the hospital where he was born.
"I'm back (at the walk) this year and I will be every year," he said. "I'm back at work, I feel great. I am a living example of why this is so important."
Contact the writer: 714-704-3769 or ecarpenter@ocregister.com

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